Ron Washington’s 2025 declaration has Angels fans extremely concerned

Ron Washington wants continuity moving into 2025. While some players will depart the organization, the Angels skipper wants every coach back.

It is yet to be seen whether or not this will actually happen, as personnel moves are not entirely Washington's call. Sure, Washington can say that his whole staff is coming back, but ultimately Perry Minasian and Arte Moreno outrank him. Minasian and Moreno surely could part ways with any staff member they deem unworthy of returning, despite whatever say Washington has on the matter. Moreno certainly has a long list of axing coaches in the past.

Washington's coaching staff needed to bring along a young group of unproven players, so it is yet to be seen how they will function if they are provided a team of "real baseball players." Angels fans are not exactly thrilled with both the Minasian extension and Washington's declaration, as the on-field results were the worst they have ever seen. However, any coaching staff handed the cards that they were would fold, so Washington is hoping they can re-shuffle the deck and get back after it in 2025. Washington was brought in to fix the Angels' broken culture, and perhaps coaching continuity (a novel concept for Arte Moreno) can help bridge the gap from a losing ball club to a winning one.

Ray Montgomery came over with Perry Minasian in 2020, and served as the director of player personnel. He moved from the front office to the dugout before the 2022 season, and has served as the bench coach since. Tim Buss, AKA "Bussy," came over with Joe Maddon, and has been the proprietor of positive vibes within the Angels' facilities since 2019. Buss has been described as "the life of the party" and also provides key insights into strength and conditioning practices. Jason Brown has been in the Angels bullpens since 2020, serving primarily as the bullpen catcher. Mike Ashman has been the Angels' batting practice pitcher for over two decades now.

Quite literally every other member of the Angels' coaching staff is either in the first year of their role, or in their first year with the Angels organization. Barry Enright is in his first year as a pitching coach at the major league level, and is the youngest coach on the staff. Johnny Washington, another relatively young coach at 40-years-old, served as the Padres' hitting coach in 2019. This season was Washington's second as a hitting coach in the bigs. Bo Porter, Jerry Narron, and Eric Young Sr. have ample coaching experience, but are new to the Angels organization (Narron joined the Angels in a Minor League role before the 2023 season, but has a storied history in baseball). Steve Karsay, Tim Laker, and Ryan Goins were Angels newcomers as well. Jayson Nix was elevated from his Minor League Player Development role before the season.

Like players, coaches can improve. Washington is hoping that will be the case with his announcement of everybody coming back. The staff is a diverse group with ample old-school and new-school philosophies. Angels fans can make their snide jokes about Washington prioritizing coaching stability, but perhaps the biggest change the Angels franchise needs is no change at all.