ANAHEIM, Calif. — Manager Brad Ausmus was fired by the Los Angeles Angels on Monday after just one season in charge.
Angels General Manager Billy Eppler announced the decision to move on swiftly from Ausmus on Monday, a day after they finished 72-90 for the franchise’s worst record since 1999.
The dismissal of Ausmus has sparked speculation that the former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon, who was let go by the Cubs this weekend, will take over as the Angels’ manager.
Ausmus was the Angels’ handpicked replacement last October for Mike Scioscia, who spent 19 years on the Angels’ bench and won their only World Series title in 2002.
After Ausmus was let go by the Detroit Tigers in late 2017 following four seasons as their manager, he spent the 2018 season as a special adviser to Eppler, gaining insight into every level of the organization.
But that knowledge didn’t translate to wins. Ausmus, the Angels’ 17th manager, saw the club regress in his sole season with a poor pitching staff and several underperforming position players. Ausmus’s team struggled for nearly every month of the summer, except for a burst of inspired play through its grief over the midseason death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs in a hotel room in Texas.
The 50-year-old Ausmus was unable to end the Angels’ streak of five straight non-playoff seasons and four straight losing records during the prime of the American League M.V.P. favorite Mike Trout’s career. Despite having the majors’ ninth-largest payroll this season, at $164.4 million, and the ideal franchise cornerstone in Trout, Los Angeles has made the playoffs just once in the past decade and has not won a postseason game since 2009.
Rumors began to swirl about Ausmus’ job security last week while Maddon’s future was being debated in Chicago. Maddon, the Cubs’ only World Series-winning manager of the past century, decided to leave the club by mutual agreement last week.