11:32 pm: According to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, the Angels have a press conference scheduled for 12 pm PST tomorrow afternoon, which, if one is to read between the lines, could be something of an inflection point vis a vis Ausmus’ future with the club. Bollinger’s counterpart at The Orange County Register, Jeff Fletcher, notes that this press conference was scheduled five days ago, and had been expected to be a forum for Ausmus and Eppler to discuss the season and offseason (Twitter links).
10:25 pm: Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Angels are ‘contemplating’ the job status of one Brad Ausmus (link), with sources indicating that a decision is expected to be made on the manager’s fate within the next 24 hours.
Last we had heard in regard to Ausmus’ security with the org, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times was relaying that the former catcher’s job was safe for 2020. Just today, the manager seemed nonplussed when presented with rumors about his potential firing that originated from Buster Olney of ESPN and Ken Rosenthal of Fox–two reporters working in presumably less proximity to the clubhouse than Torres. It’s hard to characterize this intersection of rumors as anything more than murky, but Feinsand’s depiction of a 24-hour window at least sets the stage for some kind of impending resolution to the situation.
Hired just this last offseason, Ausmus ultimately guided the 2019 Angels to a dreadful 72-90 record in his first year in Anaheim. Still, the former Tigers skipper could be forgiven for his current team’s struggles. For one, the impact of the July 1 passing of pitching Tyler Skaggs simply cannot be quantified. Skaggs was expected to be a crucial part of the team’s rotational mix, after a 2018 season in which he posted 1.3 WAR across 24 starts as a 26-year-old; aside from the on-field ramifications of Skaggs’ untimely departure, it’s hard to imagine how team morale must have been affected by the tragic death of such a close colleague and friend. The Angels were a game below .500 entering the All-Star break, but limped to a 27-44 record in the second half.
Elsewhere on the club’s roster, GM Billy Eppler tasked Ausmus with a bullpen that submitted a collective 5.10 ERA this year–good for 25th among major league teams. It’s also fair to say that the word “rotation” was very apt when describing the club’s starting situation. Los Angeles’ Opening Day rotation consisted of Skaggs, Felix Pena, Chris Stratton, Matt Harvey, and Trevor Cahill, but none of those players would be starting games by season’s end, in large part due to ineffectiveness. Starting pitchers under Ausmus posted a 5.58 ERA this year, a mark better than only Colorado and Baltimore. Offensively, the club missed outfielder Justin Upton for much of the year, while big-money slugger Albert Pujols once again provided negligible on-field value to the Angels lineup.
Yes, say it isn’t so!!!
Yes!! Say it isn’t so!!
I’m all for moving on from Ausmus, but not having any pitching this year was obviously not his fault. As a lifelong Angel fan I just hope to God that Arte and Eppler start moving this team in the right direction.
It isn’t so!
Welcome back Joe Maddon
Ausmus = Renteria 2.0
Hello, Maddon!
That would be one of the biggest mistakes they could make. I think a guy like Buck Showalter, Mike Redmond or even Gibbons would be a better choice!!
Buck Showalter is the bullpen whisperer. He is connected to the rise of Rivera, Johnson, and Britton.
At this point, we just all want October Trout and bullpens are super important these days.
Ausmus screwed the pooch with a loaded Tigers team and didn’t prove much with this year’s Angels. Time to move on and stop believing this guy can manage.
Showalter would be a welcome change.
but ausmus’s bullpen was really good considering the rotation situation.
This would be the start of a next great next season.
I’m sorry, but how is a new manager gonna make the angels suddenly get 20 more wins? You really think Ausmus is the reason the angels had a bad year? The angels have some glaring holes in their roster and unless those magically get addressed this offseason, it doesn’t matter who the manager is, they’re not gonna be good
why would think they wpuld not be addressed?
No money
Well I have always looked at this way every team will win 60 games and every team is going to loose 60 games. So that equals 120. Now that in reality gives 42 games that the players , coaches and managers have to make an impact on to help them get to a pennant. In my opinion I think the coaching and management could make a very big impact on about say 20 games which is teaching these guys basics of baseball and making the right moves along with motivating the players to execute
By comparison, Scoscia got better results out of bad Angels teams. Ausmus is just a bad manager.
It was a lousy hire in the first place, even the woeful Tigers kicked him to the curb.
The Diamondbacks fired AJ Hinch. Seemed to work out fine for the Astros. A managers first job/team doesn’t usually work out as well as the second one.
The Cardinals fired Joe Torre
And they still won’t make the playoffs for the next 15 years
Maddon coming home to San Diego!!
Coming home to the Angels where he spent 30 years of his career.
Maddon lives in Pennsylvania, so… maybe he’ll be interested in the Pirates job.
He wouldn’t take a job in the same division with the Cubs. He loves the guys too much to do that. It’ll either be Los Angeles, Philly, or San Diego.
There is absolutely nothing to indicate this is true. Pure baseless speculation.
Yeah personally Maddon is a God in his own mind, he is worse then LaRusso and Farrell might even be getting up there with Guillen as far as being more of a distraction then an asset.
“You should have been a farmer”. Saw your screen name and couldn’t resist
Ozzie Guillen or Bobby V
I like Ozzie. Get some starters and Ozzie would light a desperately needed fire under the team.
Bobby v lol… that guy is a clown
Maddon to be hired
My guess is they’ll fire Ausmus and hire HaloShane!!!
troll will be fired the first day!
YES!
As a Cubs fan, trust me, you definitely want Maddon. He’d be great for you. You’ll also get a bunch of Cubs fans cheering you on as our new favorite American League team. (Okay, so that may not be so great but… :))
Cubs fan here. Definitely concur. If he gets the Angels job, I’ll have my Angels gear ready to go as my #2 team.
Or wait until the world series and make the winner your new team
the angels had a press conference with eppler, and ausmus scheduled ten days in advance. well they fired ausmus, and cancelled it. looks like they will hire maddon he has a house in malibu.
“Bollinger’s counterpart at the OC Register, Jeff Fletcher, notes that this press conference has been scheduled for nearly a week, and had been expected to be a forum for Ausmus and Eppler to discuss the season and offseason ”
So Mark Feinsand is talking out his 6 hole when he suggests Ausmus might be replaced?
Sounds like your comment was out of your 6 hole!!
People should get banned when it turns out they were wrong, that way people won’t say as many ridiculous things. But our society doesn’t like to hold people accountable for the dumb things they say.
Amen!
Perhaps you need a happy meal, or just a hug from a friendly family member. Now that Ausmus is gone, you could at least pretend to smile.
been around baseball for far to many years. I don’t remember a team running out of players durning a game. how many times this year did the angles run out of players…and the Angles lost 90 games… it was such a poorly managed team this year..
angels lost that many games intentionally. it was a pre-planned reconstruction.
Bad teams run out of players quickly… if you have bad starters get rocked, and then you need a bunch of relievers that will mess up the next few games. It’s not that he managed the team poorly necessarily, just that the angels had a poor roster. You can’t blame a manager for 90 losses, at that point it becomes the players’ fault
SIGN COLE!!!!!
A good start. Starting pitching a must
Yes there were things that happened out of his control, there was tragedy. But what I saw from the dugout in terms of managing was just downright head scratching. Running out of players at least four times, starters being pulled early for no reason. Horrible substitutions. Absolutely no creative play calling… I.e. Bunting, Hit n runs, anything. Maddon Would be a perfect choice, we were the Cubs when he took over in 2014. Joe Was the bench coach here for years and was a key component behind the success of Scoscia including that World Series… Would love to give him the reins back… He is the man!
When Joe Madden is on the market, got to think if you are a rebuilding team or under performing team, your coaching job is at risk
the Joe Madden effect lol….the Cubs had just signed their manager and fired him after 1 year when Joe hit the market…looks like it might happen again
Bottom line – When you have a minor league pitching staff, it does not matter. Starts with the General Manager with talent acquisition
If Eppler brings in Joe Maddon, and the Angels reach the playoffs 4/5 season’s reaching the fall classic at least once does Joe Maddon have to wait the 5 years to be inducted into the hall? Hahaha.
with the way the Astros and A’s are set up for the future, good luck with that scenario playing out…
a’s are nothing. they played well because teams in the division had no desire to contend. astros are going to have a very expensive team soon. they will have to offload some stars. hardly trying to extend cole is just one example. many more will follow.
A team that has now won back to back seasons of 97 games is nothing? They had the best defense in all of baseball per Fangraphs. I can see there’s no helping you my friend.
billy bean is going to trade away the team.
Billy Bean is MLB’s Ambassador of Inclusion…so I don’t know how he could do that.
learn from his history!
Ausmus wasn’t gifted a good bullpen or he doesn’t know how to use them properly?
My gripe with Ausmus is his total lack of emotion. He is what my Dad used to call “dead from the feet up”, hardly the stuff of winners. As far as Maddon, he is a proven winner and certainly doesn’t lack personality.
The Angels bigger problem is Billy Eppler and his ability to put together a team that is deep enough to overcome the various injuries accumulated over the course of the season.
Torres might be closer to the team in proximity, but Rosenthal and Olney are true insiders. Their scoops are normally more accurate than the local writers.
BA was not dealt a good hand, but he was a bad, bad manager this year. His strategy with his pitchers is embarrassing for a former catcher. I really like him as a guy but I don’t think he’s the right guy to manage the Angels. Eppler might be smart to go all-in with Maddon and pitching this off-season. Otherwise it could very well be his last with the Angels, too.
Angels fans love to play “blame the manager”. The problem was Scoscia, now it’s Ausmus, next year Maddon? Eppler and Artie have not acquired the pitching necessary. Pitching and defense, remember? Oh wait, that doesn’t apply anymore, Mike’s gone.
we had great defense other than the first.. we had too many holes to fill. we now have some youngsters that are developing. and hopefully the team signs an ace or two.
You don’t have to be a genius to see that signing Harvey and Cahill were not going to make this team legit. Add to that the Skaggs tragedy, the burdensome Puljos contract, and general lack of talent, how do you blame Ausmus. Perhaps this is all a justification to get Maddon on board? But Arte seems reluctant to pay more dead money. Time will tell.
Unfortunately Ausmus isn’t going anywhere. He didn’t have a respectable starting rotation this year to make a determination on firing him. I think Maddon would be a much more suitable manager for the Halo’s but that’s not going to happen. Eppler has done a really good job with the farm system, but has not made good free agent signings. If Moreno doesn’t want to shell out big dollars for Gerrit Cole, he better at least spend some money on at least two 2nd tier options
Not sure Arte was going to pay for top tier free agent pitching this past season. Their record reflects their talent.
Seems kinda lame to let him go after only one season.
Brad Ausmus is not the reason the Angels had a bad year. There are some Managers looking for work who got the most from what they had. Ausmus doesn’t have that on his resume at this time.
Sorry but the lack of talent in the rotation and other glaring holes in the roster are not a product of Ausmus. The passing of Skaggs got them hard as well. Arte needs to give the guy one more chance with additions to the team and a healthy Ohtani in the rotation.
Oakland is the team to beat in our division! Other than Trout and Fletcher I would take their player at every other position! They also have an up and coming young rotation plus most of their players are young with many years of control remaining!
The Angels keep telling us they have all these prospects but since Trout name another player on the major league roster who was drafted and developed by our minor league system who is really good? We live on the waver wire and make horrible free agent signings!.