Angels fire manager Ausmus after one season

ANAHEIM >> Manager Brad Ausmus has been fired by the Los Angeles Angels 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 7290 for the franchise’s worst record since 1999.

The dismissal of Ausmus has sparked speculation that former bench coach Joe Maddon, who was let go by the Cubs this weekend, will take over as the Angels’ manager.

Ausmus was the Angels’ hand-picked 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 comprehensive insight into every level of the organization.

But that knowledge didn’t translate to wins as the 17th manager in the franchise history of the Angels, who regressed in his sole season with a poor pitching staff and several underperforming position players. Ausmus’ 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 stop the Angels’ streak of five straight non-playoff seasons and four straight losing records during the prime of AL MVP favorite Mike Trout’s career. Despite 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 hasn’t 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. The Cubs’ only World Series-winning manager of the past century decided to leave the club by mutual agreement last week.

The 65-year-old Maddon spent 31 years in the Angels organization, starting as a catcher and logging lengthy assignments as a minor league manager and a major league assistant coach, along with two stints as the Angels’ interim manager. He was Scioscia’s bench coach for six seasons, winning a World Series ring along the way, before he left to manage the Tampa Bay Rays.