Angels Retain Ray Montgomery As Bench Coach

The Angels will retain bench coach Ray Montgomery in his current role next season, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Montgomery had reportedly been among the candidates to replace Phil Nevin as manager before the job ultimately went to Ron Washington.

Montgomery, 54, was an outfielder who played for the Astros in parts of three seasons, from 1996 to 1998. After retiring as a player in 2001, Montgomery joined the Brewers as an area scout in 2002, spending five seasons in the role before moving up the organizational ladder to become the club’s Midwest supervisor and, ultimately, assistant scouting director. All told, Montgomery spent nine seasons in Milwaukee’s scouting department before departing to become director of amateur scouting with the Diamondbacks in 2011. After four years in Arizona, Montgomery returned to the Brewers as a vice president and special assistant, a role he would hold for six seasons.

Montgomery joined the Angels in 2021, though he initially joined the organization in a front office role with the title director of player personnel. He made his move to the dugout prior to the 2022 season, replacing Mike Gallego as bench coach to Joe Maddon for the first coaching gig of his lengthy career in baseball. Washington will be the third manager under whom Montgomery serves in the Anaheim dugout, having remained in his role as bench coach after Maddon was fired and replaced with Nevin, who at the time was the club’s third base coach.

Retaining Montgomery offers the Angels some level of continuity heading into the 2024 campaign. The club’s coaching staff has undergone plenty of turnover since Washington took the helm, with first base coach Bo Porter, hitting coach Johnny Washington, and pitching coach Barry Enright among the club’s many coaching additions this offseason.