Kurt

Suzuki

First-time manager Kurt Suzuki will have a wealth of experience to draw upon from one of the best pitching coaches in the league as Maddux will be leaving the Rangers to join the Halos. Under Maddux, the Rangers’ staff finished with the best ERA in baseball in 2025. He had been expected to reprise his role under new manager Skip Schumaker, but the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a contract.

The hiring is now official. No word yet on the financial terms or length of the contract. Suzuki, who has zero professional managerial or coaching experience, takes over at the helm for Los Angeles after the club moved on from veteran skipper Ron Washington after two seasons. The 42-year-old former major leaguer wrapped up a 16-year career in the majors back in 2022 and spent the last three seasons as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minsasian. He takes over a squad that has posted 10 consecutive losing seasons and hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2014.

Managerial experience obviously wasn’t a priority for the Angels, as their apparent top three candidates here were Albert Pujols, Suzuki and Torii Hunter. Suzuki, who concluded his 16-year big-league career in 2022 after spending his final two seasons with the Halos, had served as a special assistant to the GM for the organization the last three years.

It’s been a whirlwind few hours for the Angels with both Albert Pujols and now Hunter no longer in the mix to replace Ron Washington. At this point the leading candidate appears to be Kurt Suzuki, who is currently a special assistant with the club. There hasn’t been a ton of reporting regarding any external candidates.

Slusser notes that Giants’ president of baseball operations Buster Posey is focused on former catchers as he looks to find a successor to Bob Melvin who was canned after posting a 161-163 record in two seasons as the club’s manager and stumbling to a 36-41 mark down the stretch. Suzuki, 42, currently works in the Angels’ front office as a special assistant to general manager Perry Minasian.

With the Angels already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, that means Suzuki’s final day as an active player will be Wednesday, October 5. The veteran catcher, who turns 39 years old on October 4, played 16 total major league seasons for five different teams. “I feel like it’s time,” he said Tuesday. “I’ve had a great run, won a World Series, All-Star Game ... I’ve accomplished a lot of things I never would have dreamed of. I felt like it’s time for the next chapter. My three kids, all they’ve known is baseball.”

Suzuki spent a week away from the Angels but was activated prior to Saturday’s matchup against the Astros. He is not starting on Saturday and Chad Wallach was sent to Triple-A in a corresponding transaction.

While it is unclear how much time Suzuki will miss at the moment, the Angels have been using Matt Thaiss as Max Stassi’s backup catcher recently. Hopefully, the veteran takes all the time he needs during this difficult time.

It’s a rare scheduled day off for the superstar two-way player. Max Stassi will be in the designated hitter spot, with Kurt Suzuki doing the catching.

Suzuki jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Logan Gilbert in the bottom of the fourth and lifted a solo home run over the right-center field wall. The longtime backstop is 15-for-73 (.205) with two home runs to start the season.