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
True Story–I saw a deck chair from the Titanic in a Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The front office again scapegoating the coaching staff. The same failed roster construction strategy every year is their fault.
Same as Nationals
We’re numb to it all now until that idiot owner sells the team.
And then you’d be taking away a great and heroic story despite the sinking. Sometimes a Ted Williams is more important to MLB history than a struggling Red Sox organization.
Sorry? For saying something we’d all agree with? Nah dude, it’s cool.
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.
Wouldn’t matter either way. No one gets paid in a lockout/strike, including the manager.
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.
Arte is a thief
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
Out scoring your opponents win games. In honor of the 1992 1993 Blue Jays.
6th in ERA. Angels were 7th.
2nd in Runs Scored. Angels were last.
Blue Jays. Two World Series Titles.
Angels Two 90 loss seasons.
It’s both.
In the end, run differential is the key. In 2000, not a single team allowed fewer than 700 runs. If you score 1000 runs, you’re probably going to give up over 800 because no team is just going to win 116 games.
In a nutshell, what went wrong?
This wasn’t a failure of talent. It was a failure of timing, and execution.
When the bullpen showed up. Leads evaporated in the late innings, leaving starters with clean ERAs and the team with dirty losses.
They scored runs just not in close games. Blowouts padded the totals, but when it came to clutch hitting, the bats went cold.
Defensively, they were a liability. the Angels’ defense ranked 26th in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 28th in Outs Above Average (OAA)—placing them near the bottom of the league.
And then came the injuries, and Ron Washington’s midseason exit. Ray Montgomery stepped in, but the rhythm never returned. The clubhouse felt more like a revolving door than a dugout.
Brian Downing / Roy Hobbs HR Derby: “In the end, run differential is the key”
Angels put up worst run diff in the AL, by far, at -164. It was embarrassing to watch.
You should go back into history and look at alll the teams that have made the playoffs with starting pitching with ERAs in the 4’s and 5’s. How did those teams get to the playoffs? Those starters were often workhorses and the offense scored runs. Bullpens are volatile and that’s a big reason baseball history has preached innings from starters. It’s all about run differential.
I’m seeing where that’s stated now. I guess I breezed over it when I read the article. That’s incorrect though. The M’s definitely had the better average. Surprisingly, Cleveland had the lowest team batting average, and the only team lower than the Angels. Cleveland clearly found other ways to win ball games.
Very kind comment
Where are you seeing this? Fangraphs has the Angels at .223/.306/.405. Seattle at .243/.323/.423.
I didn’t double check it; but it was stated in the main article. I guess that’s not the case then.
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
1 more year of RenDone! Put that $30 mil into pitching in 2027, but of course Arte will buy another batter!
The problem isn’t that Arte won’t spend, Its that Arte won’t give a pitcher a contract longer than 3 years. No top free agent will come here on a short deal.
The Angels have been rebuilding the last two seasons. Why do you think Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore, Jose Soriano, Jack K, and other young players were called up and given reps and have two full seasons or less under their belt? One has to eally not be paying attention or even understand what a rebuild is to not see that the Angels are rebuilding. If there appears to be any misdirectoin from that by signing Kikuchi or Jansen, or acquiring Soler, it’s because they can afford it, and the Angels do have a history of suddenly jumping back into contention when no one expected it because they have always been willing to spend money for veterans no matter what stage they’re in.
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?
Nope he signed a 1 year deal so Arte doesn’t have to pay him during the lockout.
That’s why his deal is so short.
Managers aren’t protected by a union, so owners can actually write language into their contracts to avoid paying them in the event of a lockout. It would be entirely possible that you’re still correct, and Arte doesn’t realize this. This is, after all, the same organization that either didn’t realize -or didn’t care- that an air conditioner for its own players wasn’t working despite the players and the media telling them.
Most likely, I think he just doesn’t see the problem with giving a manager a 1 year deal.
@Appalachian_Outlaw The front offices, managers, and coaches can still work together in the event of a lockout. And most do. This is about being cheap for Moreno. I can’t see any other rationale for giving Suzuki a one-year deal. It sure doesn’t inspire security for any new hires.
YBC, it will make it harder to fill the openings with highly qualified people but someone will take the job. There are only 30 of each of them in baseball after all.
During a lockout the manager has no job. They are not allowed to be in contact with any major or minor league players at all. Neither are any other team employees. They cannot scout or contact players that could be drafted or signed in international free agency within that calendar year or signing period for the foreign players. They can scout a few international players that are far down the road, but Arte only has one Caribbean scout and after Taisuke Sato was let go, none in Japan so not many people still working there during a lockout.
During the last lockout Arte laid off everyone in baseball ops other than Minasian, a few people in the FO, and those involved in the business end of the team. Arte is Cheap with a capital C.
So Arte would most likely not be paying Suzuki anyway. Factory workers are not paid while the factory is closed.
It’s like changing the color of your race car to win.
Wait… doesn’t that work??!!
2027 there will be a new GM and Coach. 2029 there will be another new coach. Rinse and repeat until the team gets into the playoffs.
And until the Angel’s get legitimate pitching, a staff is allotted thebtime to teach defense, how to move runners, etc, etc, etc, we will all be watching other teams in October. None of this is possible with leadership/ownership above the GM.
None of this is a surprise. It’s part of the company culture.
If they need to teach defensive proficiency and basic fundamentals at the major league level then they failed a long time ago. They reinforce and revise these things, but the core teaching process is long before the majors in a well-run organization.
The 2025 Angels struck out more than all but one team in MLB history.
I’d think a new hitting coach is obvious. Of course, better players would be even nicer.
They struck out at a 27.1% clip while MLB average was 22.5%. It was infuriating, The only starters that were below league average were Rengifo and Schanuel and Rengifo is a free agent.
Rengifo held his K’s for RISP situations it seemed.
Sad, but true.
So, a 1 year deal? It will take 5 years just find some kind of pitching staff that can compete. Suzuki must have a day job planned for 2027 so he can just quit. It’s baseballs equivalent to Name that song. Arte, I can name that song in 1 clue!
Lockout, work stoppage, and salary cap are your buzzwords for 2027. You’ll feel their effects as 2026 contracts are negotiated.
The lockout won’t have any negative effect on MLB player contracts. They are not paid during a lockout if games in the regular season are lost, so if they sign a player before the lockout begins, teams will still pay as much as they would if there was no lockout. After it ends they will all rush to fill spots on the roster and some teams overpay. We saw that play out the last time.
Vlad Jr. had his contract set up specifically to get paid in the event of a lockout. A big part of his contract is classified as a signing bonus, which gets paid regardless of games played.
Signing bonuses are pretty much the only thing that does get paid. That and deferrals from seasons that were already played.
Take that as a lesson kiddies. Get a huge signing bonus and a smaller annual salary.
Do they want to make some other significant changes… like maybe taking Aaron Nola and Casty for Ward and 10M?
We already have Rendon on a big contract, we don’t need 2 more. Granted Rendon’s contract and Castellanos’ contract end after 2026 but Nola’s doesn’t end until 2030
Unless Rendon returns and tries to play in 2026 which is highly doubtful, the Angels can collect on his insurance. Other than him retiring, another thing that is highly doubtful, him not playing a single game is the best case scenario.
Neither Nola or Castellanos are the type of big name players that draw fans to the ballpark, so Arte would not be interested in them.
The article title sounds strange to me.
“Significant coaching changes?”
As opposed to insignificant changes?
What is Significant ?
I guess it is just what the angels fo said.
The Angels are expected to make multiple coaching changes.
Insignificant change might be rotating everyone a chair to the left. It could still be bad if your hitting coach is now working with the pitchers, but it could also be bad if you don’t have the right guys on the staff and the players aren’t good and the front office can’t makes moves because the owner has a vision that isn’t working for over twenty years now. So either one could be bad.
Hopefully they continue to suck under the new ahole manager.
Nothings says “you’re our guy” like a one year contract.
Commitment is spelled with 1 year.
Enright and Washington were the better coaches on the team. Oh, well. SOP for the Angels and Arte Moreno.
The pitching staff was terrible in 2024 and got worse in Enright’s 2nd year on the job in 2025. Enright was not good enough. He needed to go.
The biggest problem is the Angels need far more people in the baseball development side of the team, a cohesive strategy that carries from the lower minors through the major leagues, and enough stability to build that out.
The manager sets that tone and he has a one year contract. No way to start building out a baseball development staff to give him the players with the attributes he wants at the MLB level when he could be gone in one year. No incentive to do so.
Arte is a greedy idiot and he needs to sell the team. The Angels will never be winners again with him as owner.
I wonder if the disagreement with Pujols is that Pujols wouldn’t accept a one year deal
Bud black was hired by Washington. Offered one year. He quit. They gave two to Johnnie baker.
The Stadium Land Deal Scandal
Arte Moreno pulled the team off the market in 2023, just months after announcing he was exploring a sale of the Team Did the collapse of the Anaheim stadium land deal played a major role Arte pulling the team off the market
In 2020, Moreno’s company (SRB Management) struck a $320 million deal to acquire Angel Stadium and the surrounding land for redevelopment housing, retail, parks, the whole package
But in 2021, the deal was voided after corruption allegations surfaced involving the then-mayor
Moreno has since met with new mayor Ashleigh Aitken to potentially revive talks signaling he still wants control not just of the team, but of the land.
So yes, city officials squawked. Loudly. And Moreno, ever the operator, pulled the team off the market to keep his leverage intact.
Could this be the reason why Arte Moreno isn’t selling
If I had the money or the ability to finance it I would absolutely buy the land he was looking at and the stadium for $320 million. Its worth over a billion.
Some good ol’ turd polishing.