According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Los Angeles Angels are interested in hiring Joe Maddon as their next manager. (Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports)
According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Los Angeles Angels are interested in hiring Joe Maddon as their next manager. (Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports)

REPORT: Angels likely to pursue Joe Maddon after firing Brad Ausmus


by - Senior Writer -

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While announcing on Sunday that the Chicago Cubs would be moving on from manager Joe Maddon, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said that he expected a bidding war for Maddon's services to take place between other MLB teams in need of a new manager. However, a fairly likely landing spot for Maddon has already come to fruition, and it might preclude a bidding war from occurring.

Just one year into his tenure, Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus was fired on Monday, and a general consensus held by MLB analysts is that the firing was enacted in order for the Angels to have the opportunity to pursue Maddon. The Angels have reached the postseason only once over the course of the past 10 seasons and are coming off a disappointing 72-90 campaign after moving on from longtime skipper Mike Scioscia following the 2018 slate.

Maddon coached for the Angels from 1994-2005 and was Scioscia's bench coach for the 2002 Angels squad that won the World Series. Therefore, it would only make sense for an Angels franchise that is desperate to reestablish a winning culture to pursue a manager that has a history of implementing winning cultures into the clubhouses that he is a part of.

Not long after the Angels announced that Ausmus had been relieved of his duties, MLB insider Jon Heyman reported that sources confirmed to him that the Angels are interested in bringing Maddon aboard. Heyman also pointed out that Maddon still owns a home in Orange County, which he lived in while working for the Angels prior to taking the job as the manager of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays in November of 2005. According to Heyman, the Angels have not reached out to Maddon about the opening as of yet but are all but certain to do so in the near future.

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