Offseason Outlook: Los Angeles Angels

The Angels pushed the longest active playoff drought in the MLB to eleven seasons. They have lost at least 89 games in four consecutive years. While general manager Perry Minasian gets a sixth season, there’s another change in the dugout. Kurt Suzuki faces a difficult task in his first year as MLB manager.

Guaranteed contracts

Additional financial obligations

Guaranteed contracts for 2026: $126.5 million
Total future liabilities: $289.5 million

Arbitration-eligible players (service time in brackets; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free agents

The angels are in an all too familiar position. They have shown no appetite for innovation without the depth on the MLB roster to compete in a 162-game schedule. They outperformed their run differential in the first half of last season, essentially leaving them sitting on their hands at the trade deadline. Then they went 19-34 over the past two months — a record better only than the Rockies and Twins — and lost 90 games again.

General Manager Perry Minasian will get another chance to turn things around. He is entering the final guaranteed season of his contract. He hasn’t won more than 77 games yet. The Angels’ problems predate Minasian’s hiring and can largely be laid at the feet of owner Arte Moreno, but the front office is certainly under some pressure to produce better results. The Angels opted not to bring back Ron Washington or interim skipper Ray Montgomery, so they are now the fourth full-time manager of the Minasian era.

That will be Kurt Suzuki, a rookie manager with no MLB coaching experience. Sam Blum of The Athletic reports that it is a one-year contract, an atypically short commitment for any manager. Suzuki was highly respected as a big league catcher and spent the past three seasons as a special assistant in the Angels’ front office. Although the jury is concerned about the recruitment, the search process does not exactly indicate that the organization has a coherent plan.

Just two weeks ago, it looked like Albert Pujols would be the choice. The future Hall of Famer appeared to be Moreno’s preferred candidate. Last week, Sam Blum of athletics reported that the team had reversed course and would at least also interview Suzuki and Torii Hunter. Pujols was released a few days later. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that disagreements over coaching staff and compensation were one of the reasons why the Pujols talks failed. Blum wrote that it was primarily a contractual dispute.

The Angels owe Pujols $1 million annually for the next seven seasons as part of the personal services contract he signed when he retired as a player. It’s unclear if the Angels were hoping to include this in Pujols’ manager salaries. In any case, it doesn’t look good on the organization that they were unwilling to meet the asking price of the person they considered the best candidate available. Pujols’ salary claims are unknown, but even the most successful managers in the MLB earn around $8 million annually. That’s barely more than the Angels pay as a backup catcher Travis d’Arnaud.

None of this is meant as disparagement by Suzuki. It’s certainly not a given that Pujols would have been a better signing. Still, it’s the latest example of Moreno valuing short-term marginal savings over what he ostensibly believed would have been the best choice for the team. That probably doesn’t bode well for the more significant shake-up that should be in the cards.

Suzuki will have his work cut out for him with what will likely remain one of the weakest squads in the competition. The Angels have questions behind the plate, at both second and third base, and in center field. They have a maximum of two reliable starting pitchers, neither of whom will fit at the top of a rotation. Building Reid Detmers backup gives them another potential mid-rotation arm, but leaves them with arguably one reliable reliever (Brock Burke). Minasian told Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register and other reporters earlier this month that Detmers “earned” another look as a starter and is expected to be in the opening day rotation.