Will 2025 be Ron Washington’s last year as the Angels’ manager?

In the final year of his contract, the veteran manager's future is murky.

Los Angeles Angels v Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels v Chicago White Sox | Justin Casterline/GettyImages

The 2025 season for the Angels presents a crossroads for many members of the organization, and perhaps none more than manager Ron Washington. Best known as the long-time manager of the Texas Rangers, Washington is an old-school baseball mind and one of the most well-respected coaches in the game.

He is entering the final year of his two-year contract looking to rebound from a franchise-worst 63-99 record in his first season at the helm. You can't pin all the blame for the Angels' futility in 2024 on the veteran skipper. He took over a ball club that had neither an abundance of top-end talent nor the requisite depth needed to succeed over the slog of a 162-game season, and even less so when Mike Trout languished on the injured list.

Though 2024 was the first year in a long while that Washington held the top coaching post, he clearly knows how to coach players up and put a winning product on the field. During his eight-year tenure in Texas, he compiled a 664-611 record and won back-to-back AL Pennants from 2010-2011.

He's also battled personal demons along the way, which ultimately cost him his job with the Rangers and left him without another shot at a managerial position for a decade until the Angels came calling in November, 2023.

The Angels made the decision to retain him after the disastrous 2024 campaign, and have talked a big game about competing in 2025. There have been some positive moves made in that direction, but more still has to be done. What is clear is that the team will not accept another failure like 2024, and while much of those struggles can be attributed to a flawed roster, bad contracts, and an unwillingness to spend on necessary upgrades – it ultimately turns up the heat on Washington's seat.

Another playoff-less campaign in 2025 could end Washington's tenure with the Halos. Owner Arte Moreno and general manager Perry Minasian will certainly be looking for a scapegoat in this scenario. A losing season would be all but the final nail in Washington's coffin. The pressure on Washington's shoulders will be immense.

Washington could decide to walk away from the Angels as well

The long-time baseball man is no spring chicken and turns 73 on April 29th. While he's always had a knack for developing young players and has done good work with the Angels young core, he doesn't have the patience of a younger man.

Last August, Washington expressed his confidence that the team could contend in 2025. While those comments were in reference to the progression of the young talent already on the roster, Washington isn't dumb. He knows the team needs more. As last season wound to a close, Washington again doubled down on the idea that the Angels will compete in 2025. This time, there was more than optimism in his voice. There was frustration and determination, with a dash of delusion.

In that Los Angeles Times article written by Anthony De Leon, Washington was quoted as saying, "our goal is to make the playoffs. Coming back next year, over the winter, expectations will be risen. And those that can’t meet the expectations will not be around." Those are certainly some strong words, and for a man who prides himself on bluntness and brutal honesty, he may look in the mirror at the end of the 2025 season and decide that he shouldn't continue to be around.

Washington, Minasian, and Moreno all clearly got on the same page when discussing contending in 2025. However, under the surface, it's hard to imagine that there isn't some tension there. The team clearly hasn't done enough to upgrade the roster to legitimately compete for the playoffs and that brings Washington to the brink. Unless he can pull a rabbit out of his hat in 2025, he likely won't be around for 2026, and any one of these three men could be the one to decide that his time has come to an end in Anaheim.

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