The Los Angeles Angels have hired veteran manager Ron Washington, who led the Texas Rangers to two straight American League pennants in the 2010s, to helm their ballclub, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Wednesday.
Breaking: Angels hire Ron Washington for their manager job
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 8, 2023
Washington has spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Braves, where he earned himself a World Series ring in 2021.
He previously served as the Oakland Athletics’ third base coach after resigning from his only prior managerial position with the Rangers. Washington led that team to successive World Series berths in 2010 and 2011, though they fell short both times. (RELATED: New York Mets Make Shocking Managerial Hire)
I love this hire. The 71-year-old Washington isn’t just fiery for his age, he’s as charismatic and energetic as any young manager in the league. The Angels have been inexplicably bad the past 10 years despite the fact that they have the two best players in the game in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. While their lack of success can’t be chalked up to lack of effort — the front office has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on failed projects like Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon — their inability to utilize generational talent is extremely puzzling.
Now that they have a manager, they can get down to the business of retaining Shohei Ohtani, a guy who — when it’s all said and done — could be the best player in MLB history and is on track to garner one of the biggest contracts in MLB history as he enters free agency.
Hiring Washington was a brilliant move if you look at it through the “Ohtani lens,” because Washington is the ideal player’s manager.
