BeamBlog

By Sam Blum, Brittany Ghiroli and David O’Brien

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Los Angeles Angels hired Ron Washington to be their manager, the team announced Wednesday. The team interviewed Washington on Tuesday evening in Arizona and the process moved quickly from there.

It is a two-year contract that runs through 2025. The terms of the deal were not released.

Advertisement

Buck Showalter was among the small group of finalists for the position. By the end of the process, the Angels were only considering people with previous MLB managing experience.

Washington, 71, has long hoped to get another managing opportunity. He resigned from the Texas Rangers in 2014, citing personal reasons. He led Texas to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.

Washington spent the last seven years as the third-base coach for the Braves and was a popular figure in Atlanta. He also was a coach for the Oakland Athletics following his departure from Texas.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian has extensive experience working with Washington. Minasian was in the Braves front office through the 2020 season. He was also a scout with the Rangers during part of Washington’s tenure in Texas.

Washington is the fifth manager for the Angels since 2018, as owner Arte Moreno has cycled through the position numerous times following unsuccessful tenures. Moreno had the ultimate say in this hire.

Angels managers since Mike Scioscia

It is not clear how many candidates interviewed with the Angels. Several candidates were reportedly in the mix at various points, including former players like Torii Hunter, Darin Erstad and Benji Gil. Gil, who spent the last two years on the team’s coaching staff, was not interviewed, league sources said.

Washington will try and turn around an ailing franchise that is in need of a strong voice and leadership. Minasian said Tuesday he hoped to hire a candidate that could bring gravitas to the job. Washington’s stature in the game suggests he can do just that.

The short-term nature of the deal is probably a reflection of Washington’s age. Minasian’s status of being on the final year of his contract could also play a factor.

GO DEEPER

Dusty Baker speaks on Angels hire of Ron Washington: 'You just can’t believe how happy I am'

What this means for the Braves

It’s difficult to overstate the impact Washington had on the Braves in his seven years with a team that has won six consecutive National League East titles and the 2021 World Series.

Advertisement

“I’m going to look back on this in my career that I’m honored I got a chance to work with him,” Alex Anthopoulos, Braves president of baseball operations and general manager, said. “He’s everything you could want. He deserves the opportunity. He’s excited. Obviously, I’m excited for him. It’s a huge loss for us. And I emphasize that in caps, bold, italicized, all of it. A huge, huge void.”

Beyond serving as third-base coach and infield instructor, “Wash” was a never-ending fountain of old-school knowledge that he made work splendidly even within new-school systems and analytics. He was a master of the fungo bat that Washington used in his patented one-on-one pregame drills with infielders — they were voluntary, but every Braves infielder did them each day, so committed were they to the coach who showed such commitment to them.

GO DEEPER

'A huge loss for us': 'Irreplaceable' Ron Washington hired away from Braves

Those sessions were accompanied by the soundtrack of Wash’s voice, profanity-laced torrents of wisdom and advice, always honest, sometimes brutally so, and positivity that players said made them better fielders and better teammates.

He had nearly scaled the mountaintop as a manager, going to consecutive World Series with the Rangers, but after returning to his old job as infield coach, he attacked it each day, tirelessly, driven to make every player better. Players with the Rangers, Athletics and Braves all credited Washington with having the biggest role in turning them into Gold Glove winners, some even presenting him with the first Gold Glove they won.

He also made it his duty for many years to print out positive messages, one affirmation per day, and place them in the locker of each Braves player. — David O’Brien, Braves senior writer

Required reading

(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGlrbmtnZ3xzfJFsZmppX2WFcK3NoJylq12nvK951pqqoaGenMGwuoymmKeZl5q%2FcA%3D%3D