Anaheim kicked off their offseason in a big way after they relieved manager Phil Nevin from his post for the 2024 season.
The organization now searches for its fourth manager since Mike Scioscia but one former player could be the answer to the team's job opening according to MLB insider Jim Bowden.
"I think that hiring a long-term manager makes a lot of sense," Bowden said. "I think Darin Erstad would be a perfect hire."
Darin Erstad played the first 11 seasons of his career in Anaheim as one of the team's primary outfielders for over a decade.
Three Gold Gloves, two All-Star nods and a Silver Slugger award all belonged to Erstad for his time as a Halo.
However, none of those achievements compared to his World Series title in 2002 after a thrilling seven-game series between the Angels and Barry Bonds' Giants.
The two-time MVP vote recipient retired in 2009 with the Houston Astros after a stop with the Chicago White Sox and could be the Angels' next managerial hire.
Owner Arte Moreno's familiarity with his former outfielder also makes Erstad's case to manage the team a compelling one.
Many in baseball circles believe that the Halos managerial job is unattractive due to the possibility of losing both Perry Minasian as a general manager and Mike Trout as a player shortly.
A veteran and franchise icon like Erstad would certainly change the narrative around such a discussion.
Brad Ausmus, Joe Maddon and Nevin all failed to get the best of Trout and Shohei Ohtani's collective talent in recent seasons and the latter may be on the way out this winter.
Anaheim's last playoff win came back in 2009 when Erstad was still a player in the league nearly 15 seasons ago.
Such ineptitude has to end somewhere and the former Angels legend could finally bring some stability to such an unstable franchise.
The fit just makes too much sense and one of Anaheim's own could finally bring the best out of both their present and future.
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