Manager Kurt Suzuki won’t be the only fresh face in the Angels’ dugout next season. Sam Blum of The Athletic reports that Los Angeles is expected to have an almost entirely new coaching staff in 2026. It’s unclear whether any coaches will return. Hitting coach Johnny Washington and pitching coach Barry Enright are among the coaches not being brought back.
The Angels’ managerial search has earned plenty of headlines in recent weeks after the team decided neither Ron Washington nor Ray Montgomery would return in 2026. Albert Pujols seemed to be next in line, but the sides couldn’t come to terms on a contract. Torii Hunter was seen as the fallback if Pujols didn’t work out, but he was also removed from consideration. Suzuki was announced as the new skipper on Tuesday.
Suzuki received a one-year contract. As Blum noted, the length of the deal could make it more difficult to put together a coaching staff. Candidates would likely be looking for more stability than a manager on a one-year deal (though it does have multiple option years).
After a few years as a minor league pitching coach in Arizona, Enright worked as the Diamondbacks’ assistant pitching coach in 2022. He held that role through 2023. He became the pitching coach of the Angels in 2024. Los Angeles ranked 26th in ERA in Enright’s first season. The pitching staff had the second-lowest strikeout rate and the second-highest walk rate. The Angels weren’t much better this past season, finishing 28th in ERA. They had the fourth-lowest strikeout rate and the highest walk rate.
Enright pitched in parts of four big-league seasons. He played for the Angels in his final two seasons, though he totaled just 12 innings.
Washington received his first big-league coaching gig with San Diego, serving as the first base coach in 2017. He became the team’s hitting coach in 2018, holding that role through 2019. After two years as an assistant with the Cubs, he was hired as the Angels’ hitting coach in 2024
The Angels ranked 28th in scoring in Washington’s first season. Only the Mariners and White Sox had a lower batting average. Los Angeles improved to 25th in scoring this past season. They jumped to fourth in home runs, though it came with a league-leading 27.1% strikeout rate.
I apologize to any diehard Angels fans out there, for I do not mean to insult you, but reading that the Angels plan to make some “significant” coaching changes is kind of like reading, a century ago, that the owners of the Titanic planned “significant” changes to the band before it’s maiden trip, does it not?
We know.
Angels Management is rearranging the chairs on deck
The front office again scapegoating the coaching staff. The same failed roster construction strategy every year is their fault.
Suzuki got a one-year deal because Moreno is in favor of a lockout after next season Bob Nightingale said so
That’s the only way Arte can avoid a losing season.
What a sad state of the Angels are in! MLB should have forced it to be sold last few years.
MLB please force Arte to sell. Please.
Hey the Angels had a better team batting average than the team that made it to the 7th game of the ALCS this year. That has to be a building block with a silver lining around it !!! I wish the Angels a successful offseason and I hope Perry mixes it up with a few surprises among his usual revamped bullpen pieces.
You can hit .270 as a team and still miss October if your pitching staff is handing out runs like Halloween candy.
Batting average looks nice on paper, yeah, but it doesn’t win games pitching does. strong rotation sets the tone, and a reliable bullpen closes the door. Without that backbone, even the best bats can’t carry a team through a long season, let alone a playoff run. The Angels didn’t have the starting pitching last season
This isn’t a rebuild—it’s a one-year reset.
Kurt Suzuki’s deal is only for one season, so building a coaching staff feels more like speed dating than long-term planning.
Stability? Not in Anaheim.
If this is a real culture change, great. But if it’s just another round of musical chairs with no real upgrades, fans won’t be fooled. Arte Moreno with his paint brush and roller putting a fresh coat of paint on a crumbling franchise
I guess we can hope that since Suzuki is only signed for one year, that Arte plans to be out of here by the end of that year. A guy can hope, right?