The Los Angeles Angels fired Ron Washington last week, choosing to go in a different direction at manager. Washington is 73 years old and coming off quadruple bypass surgery. He's a risk due to his health, and while neither Washington nor the Angels will admit that's why the two sides parted ways, it's not a great look for Los Angeles. It also doesn't help that Washington was let go without a call from owner Arte Moreno, who he hoped to discuss his future with prior to the end of the season.
“I think I had the team going in the right direction — I really did,” Washington continued. “And it was just too bad that my health came into play. There’s nothing that I can do about that. It was my team. I think the team took on my personality. We were definitely showing that. In this business, this is the kind of stuff that happens to you. When everything goes not the way people wanted, you take the blame for it. And I’m OK.”
Washington's teams finished well below .500 in both of his seasons as manager, but it appeared Perry Minasian used the veteran skipper as a scapegoat for his own actions. The Angels failed to surround Mike Trout (and at one point Shohei Ohtani) with the necessary talent to make the postseason. Much of that is on the GM, whose own future is up for debate in 2026.
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The Angels are blaming Ron Washington for their own failures
The Angels were bad across the board in 2025, and there's little Washington could've done about that. Anaheim ranked 16th in runs per game and 28th in run differential. They were 23rd in team ERA and 30th in strikeouts per game, with an abysmal pitching staff which single-handedly kept them out of games.
“You know, when you’re a competitor, and you’re in charge, none of that stuff comes into play,” Washington said. “Sometimes you’ve got to make chicken salad out of chicken s—.”
Washington wasn't shy about his team's shortcomings in his final year with the Angels, in which they finished just 72-90. While Washington's health was a question mark moving forward – and his age suggested he wouldn't be with the team long term before considering retirement – most managers get more than two years to make an impact. Washington was let go prematurely, and Moreno's fingerprints are all over his possible replacements.
Who will replace Ron Washington as Angels manager?
The Angels are expected to take their time in a managerial search, but the two candidates that have emerged so far are Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter. Both players are former Angels, and far younger than Washington. Hunter and Pujols also have far less coaching experience than Washington, and represent a major risk moving forward.
Whoever Moreno hires – whether it be Pujols, Hunter or another young manager – ought to have a long leash. Moreno is an owner who loves to meddle. It's not a positive trait in any owner, especially one whose team hasn't made the playoffs in a decade.
Hunter has virtually no coaching experience. He was considered for a role on the Angels coaching staff before they hired Washington. Pujols has at least coached in LIDOM and is set to manage the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
Regardless, Moreno seems to assume the problem was Washington, rather than the roster he and Minasian assembled. He couldn't be more wrong, which is an insult to the longtime MLB skipper.