The heat on Angels' manager Ron Washington's seat is turning up amid recent skid

Job security for an Angels' manager under Arte Moreno is never something to be taken for granted. For Ron Washington, the oldest manager in the majors at 73, the future beyond 2025 was murky to begin with, and now, the Angels' recent skid has placed the veteran baseball man firmly on the hot seat.

Washington's first year on the job, 2024, wound up being the worst season in franchise history as the team narrowly avoided the 100-loss threshold, finishing at 63-99. Still, the failings were largely not Washington's fault as a deeply flawed roster suffered devastating injuries to crucial players like Mike Trout, and suffered deeply from years of organizational malpractice.

That said, last year's pitiful performance left a sour taste in the mouth of all connected to the organization, and with Washington in the final year of his contract (the team has a club-option for 2026), Washington's margin for error is razor thin if he'd like to keep his job past this season.

One would have thought that the Angels' hot start to the season would have bought him some grace, however, he was named as one of nine managers on the hot seat by the Athletic back on April 14th when the Angels were sitting at a surprising 9-6.

Now, two short weeks later, the team that at one point occupied first place in the crowded AL West has seen the bottom fall out, sitting at 12-15, which is good for last in the division.

The Angels recent struggles are turning up the heat on Ron Washington

Not much has been going right for the Angels of late. The offense has sputtered after a hot start, and now after 27 games own a league-worst walk rate (5.9%) and the second-worst strikeout rate (27.1%) while the rotation has struggled (4.62 ERA, 25th in the majors), and the bullpen has been horrid (4.95 ERA, 27th in the bigs).

Not all of those issues are Washington's fault. There's plenty of blame to go around. However, as the Angels look to play more competitive baseball this season, many of Washington's decisions have come into question.

Washington vowed to play the hot hand at shortstop early in the season while awaiting Zach Neto's return from the IL, banking on fallen star Tim Anderson who had been one of the absolute worst hitters in baseball the past two seasons, while letting the then-red-hot Kyren Paris languish on the bench far longer than he should have.

His bullpen management has also been extremely questionable, with leaving rookie Ryan Johnson in for a second inning of work in his professional debut. Johnson was subsequently lit up, and the Halos fell to the lowly White Sox on opening day.

Further transgressions include batting struggling backup catcher fifth, despite his putrid .152/.176/.212 line through his first 11 games. There was also the awkwardly heated exchange between him and Jack Kochanowicz as he went to take the ball from the young starter.

Washington made headlines during spring training due to his locker room cellphone ban, showcasing his old-school mentality. Now, he must worry much more about the product in the field and prove that he can make the right decisions to put his players in the best positions to succeed.

So far, he hasn't shown he can do that, and if the missteps continue, he won't be long for the Halos' skipper role.

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