2 reasons the Angels manager job isn't appealing, 1 reason it is
Would you take the Angels manager job?
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The Los Angeles Angels decided they were not going to bring Phil Nevin back for the 2024 season and for good reason. The team finished 73-89 for the second year in a row, showing no improvement under Nevin despite much more talent at his disposal.
The team collapsed almost immediately after trading several prospects for rentals to try an dhelp them win now. The Angels have now gone through eight straight losing seasons and nine straight seasons with no playoffs.
The Angels are not the only team with an opening, and their position is not nearly as enticing for prospective managers to walk into when compared to other teams out there. That's a problem. Here are two reasons why and another arguing that the opening isn't the worst.
1) The LA Angels manager job isn't appealing because working for Arte Moreno means you have no margin for error
Phil Nevin was the fourth Angels manager in the last five years. Mike Scioscia's tenure was done after 18 years, and since then, the Angels have failed to find any sort of stability. Brad Ausmus failed in 2019, Joe Maddon wasn't much better from 2020-2022, and Phil Nevin obviously was a step down after Maddon.
Managers are often used as a scapegoat in baseball, but the turnover in the Angels organization is pretty unmatched. That's because of one man, Arte Moreno. The Angels owner wants to be very involved despite no experience working in baseball whatsoever, and that's a huge reason why the Angers are where they are.
The decision to let Phil Nevin go was a collaborative one between Minasian and owner Arte Moreno, Minasian said.
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) October 3, 2023
Notable since the decision to fire Joe Maddon was Minasian's.
The decision to let Nevin go wasn't one made by just Minasian. Moreno played a key role, which could scare some managers away. Having an owner who knows nothing about baseball involved in personnel and roster decisions is simply not enticing.
The manager turnover is one thing, another is whether Moreno will even hold onto the team. Moreno teased selling the club last offseason before pulling them off the market unexpectedly. It doesn't look like he'll sell this offseason, but Arte's. been so erratic he could easily change his mind again unexpectedly.
A manager could walk in with a four-year contract and be fired almost immediately if Moreno sells the team because the new owner could want his own people in place. Moreno meddles, you have no job security, and you have no idea who will even own the team the next day. Nobody will want to work under him.
2) The new LA Angels manager will be expected to win even when the roster isn't ready for it
The 2022 Angels were not good enough to be a serious contender in the American League. Despite that, Joe Maddon was fired in large part because the team was losing. Obviously a 14-game losing streak is horrific and Maddon should take blame for that, but the roster simply wasn't good either.
The 2023 Angels were a bit different as I believe the roster was good enough to contend for a postseason spot and they collapsed after the trade deadline.
Arte Moreno's Angels don't rebuild. They haven't entered a full rebuild once since he took over, and there's no reason to believe that'll change even if Shohei Ohtani leaves. That means even if the talent level is subpar in a really tough AL West, the Angels will be expected to be right there in a postseason race.
Perry Minasian will likely take the fall if he's unable to field a winner in 2024, and that means the new guy will likely want to fire the manager to hire his own clubhouse leader. This all ties back to Arte Moreno and how unfair it is to work for him.
3) The new LA Angels manager will have the chance to develop a lot of young talent
There are a couple of positives when it comes to this Angels job. Managing Mike Trout has to be very cool. Working in Southern California where the weather is mostly perfect seems pretty gfeat too. The biggest attraction, though, is all of the young talent Minasian has acquired over the last couple seasons.
The Angels were not fun to watch for much of this season, but certain players were. The young players played with heart and passion and you could really tell how badly they wanted to win.
The Angels have Logan O'Hoppe behind the plate, a guy who has the potential to be one of the best catchers in the game. They've got Nolan Schanuel, a kid drafted this season who made it from college to the bigs in just a couple of months and got on base in all 29 games he played.
Zach Neto was the team's spark plug at shortstop. His numbers might not look eye-popping, but the team went 43-41 with him and 30-48 without him. He was invaluable to this team. Mickey Moniak broke out in a huge way with the bat and will play a key role in 2024. Jo Adell has all the talent in the world and can become a great player under the right coaching. This is just the hitting side of things.
The rotation regressed in 2023, but maybe under a new pitching coach things will look up again. Reid Detmers is just 24 years old and has shown a ton of flashes. Patrick Sandoval is 26 and was really good in 2022. Chase Silseth is 23 and was breaking out before his injury. In the bullpen you've got youngsters like Jose Soriano, Sam Bachman, and Ben Joyce all there ready to take another leap.
The Angels don't have a World Series roster, but they've got young players who are hungry to improve and win. Having a manager grow with them like Brandon Hyde in Baltimore or David Bell in Cincinnati could wind up leading to great results down the line.
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