Angels fire manager Brad Ausmus as the managerial vacancies pile up

While some managerial fits make sense at the time but end up not working out, some never made a ton of sense from the beginning. This is what the marriage between the Angels and manager Brad Ausmus felt like.

Ausmus came from a stint with the Tigers where the team got progressively worse during his tenure and he seemed to completely eschew analytics and advanced metrics in exchange for an “old school” mentality that did not translate well on the field. When the Tigers opted not to extend him after a 98 loss season, it was hardly a surprise.

Flash forward to the 2019 season and Ausmus somewhat surprisingly got the managerial gig after Mike Scioscia vacated the position. In some respects, Ausmus’ older school mentality matched what Scioscia did, but many thought that he was just a less experienced and less successful version of the guy the Angels had just moved on from. Despite having Mike Trout on his roster, the Angels did not flourish as they ended up losing 90 games largely due to a pitching staff that was one of the worst in the league.

Now, the day after the season ended, the Angels have informed Ausmus that he will not be returning.

The Angels now join a growing list of clubs that will be looking for a new manager for the 2019 season. The number of managerial vacancies is now approaching levels we have not seen before.

Others have reported that general manager Billy Eppler will be retained which is somewhat puzzling given that Eppler has yet to demonstrate that he can assemble a pitching staff that can compete. However, successfully extending Mike Trout aka the best baseball player on planet Earth likely engenders a certain amount of goodwill.