Angels Named 'Best Bet' to Replace Manager, GM This Offseason

Ron Washington has been mostly out of the spotlight since a quadruple-bypass heart procedure ended his season in June. In August, Washington revealed his health is in a much better place.

The Angels hold a team option on Washington's contract for next year, and it might make sense to allow him to work with the same core of young players who largely took a step forward in 2025.

Still, that hasn't stopped speculation about who could take over if Washington — and interim manager Ray Montgomery, previously the Angels' bench coach — don't return next season.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic chimed in on the likelihood of a new face in the Angels' dugout and front office. He listed the Angels among 15 teams that could change their manager or general manager this offseason.

"The first step for Angels owner Arte Moreno is determining whether to bring back (general manager Perry) Minasian, who is presiding over his fifth straight losing season," Rosenthal writes. "The team is in some ways showing progress, and Moreno bears as much if not more responsibility than Minasian for the ongoing malaise. But in Arte World, anything is possible."

Echoing earlier reports, Rosenthal believes the Angels' decision on whether or not to pick up Washington's option hinges more on a clean bill of health than his own willingness to manage. The Angels were 36-38 after Washington managed his last game on June 19. They are 35-49 since, the fourth-worst record in Major League Baseball.

Washington turns 74 next April. Can he manage another 162 games the year after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery?

A more incisive question might be: will Moreno try to revive the franchise behind a name-brand manager? Former Angels stars Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter — among other potential candidates — have expressed a desire to manage at the MLB level. Pujols even managed a Dominican Winter League team to a championship earlier this year.

Yet Rosenthal offered an intriguing counterargument for staying the course. The threat of a lockout looms after the 2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the Players' Association expires. The possibility of lost games in 2027 — and lost revenue — looms as an incentive for every major league owner to control costs.

Any new manager or general manager the Angels bring in this winter will certainly want a contract into 2027 and beyond.

"With so much uncertainty about 2027, (Moreno) might be reluctant to bring in a new GM, new manager and new coaching staff," Rosenthal wrote. "In which case his preference could be to retain Minasian, pick up Washington’s option for 2026 (if he is healthy) or bring back Montgomery."

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