Angels to hire Kurt Suzuki, former MLB player and World Series champion, as manager
Suzuki finished his player career with the Angels in 2022

The Los Angeles Angels are naming former big-league catcher Kurt Suzuki as their manager, CBS Sports HQ's Jim Bowden has confirmed. The decision comes not long after famed retired slugger Albert Pujols reportedly broke off talks with the club regarding that managerial vacancy.
Suzuki, 42, last played in 2022. He spent parts of 16 seasons in MLB, and over that span tallied 1,421 hits; 143 home runs; one All-Star appearance; and almost 13,000 defensive innings behind the plate. As well, Suzuki won a World Series ring as a member of the Washington Nationals in 2019. With the Nationals, Suzuki was teammates with current Angels infielder Anthony Rendon. Suzuki, a Hawaii native originally drafted out of Cal State Fullerton by the Athletics in 2004, spent the final two seasons of his playing career with the Angels.
While Suzuki has no prior managerial experience, he has worked for the past three seasons as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian. On another level, hiring managers without dugout experience is increasingly common.
Suzuki inherits an Angels team that went 72-90 under Ron Washington and interim Ray Montgomery, who stepped in for Washington after health issues forced him aside in June. Shortly after the end of the regular season, the Angels announced that neither Washington nor Montgomery would return to the job in 2026. Suzuki becomes the Angels' fifth manager since 2022, counting Montgomery's interim stint. Going further back, Suzuki is the club's seventh manager since 2018.
Very related to all that churn are the Angels' struggles for the last decade-plus. They're coming off back-to-back last-place finishes in the American League West. The Angels have also endured 10 straight losing seasons, including a 99-loss campaign in 2024. They haven't made the postseason since 2014 despite for much of that stretch enjoying the some peak seasons from Mike Trout and then Shohei Ohtani. The Angels also haven't won a playoff series since 2009.
The Suzuki hiring means that seven teams still remain in search of a new manager for 2026: the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and Minnesota Twins.