The Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday hired Joe Maddon to be their next manager, making official a union that appeared for weeks to be a fait accompli.
The organization announced the news on Twitter. According to multiple reports, Maddon signed a three-year contract, the terms of which haven’t been publicly disclosed.
Maddon takes over for Brad Ausmus, who was fired after only one season with the organization. Ausmus was in the tough-luck position of coming in after nearly two decades of Mike Scioscia’s leadership and one year before ex-Angels coach Maddon, one of the most highly respected managers in the game, was to become available. The Angels, even with perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout and two-way star Shohei Ohtani, finished just 72-90 and in fourth place in the American League West division.
Maddon comes over from the Chicago Cubs after five seasons during which he made the playoffs four times, reached the National League Championship Series three times and, in 2016, won a World Series — the first for the franchise since 1908. But after failing to make the playoffs during a tumultuous 2019, he was let go by the Cubs ahead of their regular-season finale last month. Maddon finished his Cubs tenure with a 471-339 record.
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For Maddon, getting the managerial job with the Angels is a homecoming.
He had been with the organization for 31 years before leaving to become the manager of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays prior to the start of the 2006 season. He had served as Scioscia’s bench coach before that and had served brief stints as an interim manager for the Angels in 1996 and 1999. Maddon helped turn the Rays franchise around, leading the low-budget club to a World Series appearance in 2008 and several playoff appearances.
“We are thrilled that Joe is coming back home and bringing an exciting brand of baseball to our fans,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said in a statement. “Every stop he has made throughout his managerial career he has built a culture that is focused on winning while also allowing his players to thrive. We believe Joe will be a great asset for our Club and look forward to him leading the team to another World Series Championship.”
Maddon takes over a team that’s stacked with talent in the lineup but weak in the rotation and the bullpen — a deficiency exacerbated by the death of hurler Tyler Skaggs during the season and the federal drug investigation involving a team official that resulted from it.
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The possibility of sanctions from Major League Baseball looms if the investigation establishes the team violated the league’s drug policy, ESPN reported.
