Angels Hire 16-Year Veteran Catcher as New Manager

The Los Angeles Angels have hired their new manager, and it’s former longtime catcher Kurt Suzuki. The club announced the hire on social media Tuesday afternoon after the news had been widely reported. Suzuki, the former All-Star and 16-year major league veteran, was one of many former Angels to interview for the job. While Suzuki will be the one taking the helm for the Angels, he wasn’t the favorite as recently as yesterday. That nod would have gone to future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, but according to many sources, those talks fell apart regarding money. Per Sam Blum of The Athletic, “There had been mutual interest in hiring the former great, but the two sides could not get close on dollars and years, the source said.”

Other names involved with the search include Rocco Baldelli, Brandon Hyde, and Bo Porter. All three have managed before, with both Hyde and Baldelli managing this past season.

Angels Hire Kurt Suzuki as Manager

Suzuki spent 16 years in the majors and was an All-Star in 2014 with the Minnesota Twins. Suzuki has spent the last three seasons as a special assistant to Angels GM Perry Minasian. Like Pujols, Suzuki has no on-field managerial experience in either the majors or minors. This isn’t his first time being a candidate to manage, however, as Suzuki also interviewed to manage the San Francisco Giants earlier this month. (The Giants are moving toward hiring Tony Vitello from the University of Tennessee.)

Hiring Suzuki is a bit of a change in philosophy for the Angels, as historically, they’ve preferred to hire managers with previous coaching experience. The position has been a rocky one, to say the least, as the Angels haven’t been to the playoffs in over 10 years. This has led to the seat being hot almost all the time. Going back to 2019, the Angels have had five managers, and Suzuki will be the sixth in that timespan.

The Los Angeles Angels are hiring Kurt Suzuki as manager, sources tell ESPN. Suzuki, 42, spent 16 years as a major league catcher and has spent the last three seasons as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 21, 2025

How Does the Angels Lineup Look in 2026?

The Angels are in a weird place entering the 2026 season. They have a lot of young talent at the big league level, but very little depth. It will be interesting to see how Suzuki handles young players who have been performing well, like Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel, and more interestingly, how he handles struggling vets like Mike Trout. There are a ton of questions going into 2026; Will the young players take a step forward? Will the vets have bounce-back years? Will the team stay relatively healthy? This all remains to be seen, but with all of this in mind, it will definitely be something to keep an eye on as we head into next season.

 

Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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