2 Angels coaches who won't be back next season, 1 who will barely keep their job

After it seemed like the Los Angeles Angels had a legitimate shot at breaking their near decade-long postseason drought, the chances they play meaningful October baseball are extremely slim. They're being given just a 2.4% chance to make the playoffs by FanGraphs even after winning their most recent series against the Giants.

At 58-58, the Angels trail the first place Rangers by 10.5 games in the AL West, and they trail the third Wild Card spot by seven games. They're back at .500 thanks to consecutive victories, but had lost seven straight prior to those wins to put them in the difficult situation they're currently in.

If the Angels fail to make a miraculous run at a postseason spot and miss the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season, especially after going all in on 2023, chances are some personnel will pay the price. The players and front office will certainly deserve portions of the blame, but coaches will be scapegoated as well. I don't believe the Angels would fully clean house, but some coaches will lose their jobs if this team has a bad ending.

LA Angels manager Phil Nevin won't be back next season

This is what most Angels fans want to hear, and I think if the Angels do miss the playoffs, they'll go in another direction at the manager position. Phil Nevin took over for Joe Maddon after Maddon was fired in the middle of last season. Nevin finished the year as the manager, but hadn't had another year guaranteed until the season ended.

The Angels decided to shed the interim tag and keep Nevin around, mainly because of the uncertainty revolving around the franchise. Arte Moreno was going to sell the team at the time until he got cold feet and took the team off the market. This left the Angels with an owner nobody wanted to be there, and a manager who hadn't proven to be qualified. I thought Nevin was fine last season, but the Angels also had nothing to play for by the time he took over.

2023 was a huge year for the Angels. It was a year they planned on making the postseason to try and convince Shohei Ohtani to stay long-term. Despite the huge year ahead, the Angels decided to have an inexperienced, unqualified manager lead them. Nevin isn't the only problem, but he's made it clear that he's not the solution.

While the Angels haven't had a 14-game losing streak like last season, they've had multiple 6+ game skids while showing virtually no consistency all year long. Basic fundamentals cost this team games early on this season, as did bad bullpen management. Those two things can fall on the manager, even with the players also needing to execute.

The second the Angels made a stand by buying, they completely collapsed. They lost each of their first seven games after the trade deadline including being swept in embarrassing fashion at home by the Mariners.

Are all of these things Phil Nevin's fault? Absolutely not. Will the next manager they hire be any better? I have no idea. What I do know is Nevin has done nothing to show anyone that he deserves to have his contract extended. He should be gone barring a massive turnaround.

LA Angels pitching coach Matt Wise won't be back next season

Another coach on this Angels staff who did not initially get the job he's in now is Matt Wise. The current Angels pitching coach was the interim pitching coach when Mickey Callaway was suspended, and once that situation handled itself, Wise found himself as the pitching coach with no interim label attached.

Wise began as the pitching coach in 2021, and saw his staff post a 4.69 ERA. That wasn't great, but the staff took a massive leap forward, improving to a 3.77 staff ERA the following season. The young pitchers took steps forward, and the Angels, despite a shaky bullpen, had the sixth-best rotation ERA in baseball.

Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worst in 2023. Despite adding Tyler Anderson, a pitcher who had a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers last season, the rotation ERA sits at 4.50, good for 17th in the majors. Far cry from sixth. It feels like each starter has taken a step back. The most concerning thing is young arms who impressed particularly down the stretch last season in Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers, and Jose Suarez have all either plateaued or regressed. That's just not what you want.

The bullpen was supposed to be the team's Achillies heal, but Perry Minasian got the Angels some help by adding two quality arms in Matt Moore and Carlos Estevez. Despite those two having mostly terrific years when healthy, the Angels bullpen has a 4.28 ERA which is good for 22nd in the majors. The three really trustworthy arms this bullpen has in Estevez, Moore, and Reynaldo Lopez have all spent less than a year under Wise's tutelage and have all had success without him.

It's hard to see the impact Wise has had on this pitching staff. The Angels rank 20th in the majors with a 4.41 ERA. The talent appears to be there, but results haven't followed. Not all of that is on Wise, but a new voice could help a lot.