ANAHEIM — Perry Minasian sat in front of a small group of reporters Saturday – which in itself answered one of the questions of the winter – and said all the other issues take a back seat to finding a new manager.
“This is a huge hire,” the Angels’ general manager said. “I realize it. We need to nail it. We can’t miss.”
While there was some speculation that the Angels might also be looking for a new general manager after five consecutive losing seasons under Minasian, owner Arte Moreno ultimately decided to stand pat. Minasian has one year left on an extension he signed last year.
Now Moreno and Minasian – with Moreno ultimately having the last word – will be looking for someone to replace Ron Washington. The Angels decided not to bring back Washington after his second season as manager.
“It was obviously a really tough decision,” Minasian said. “I love Ron Washington. I’ve been with him three different places (also Texas and Atlanta). I think he’s a heck of a baseball man. At the end of the day in this job, you have to make tough decisions. And we had discussions all day Monday with ownership, just talking through the season. Felt like there needed to be a different voice.”
Minasian said there is no timetable for hiring a new manager, but they’re hoping not to have the process take too long.
Former Angels stars Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter, who are both currently employed by the team, are expected to be candidates. There will also be external candidates.
“Obviously, you want somebody that understands people, understands the game, has a presence, there’s respect,” Minasian said. “I can name 5,000 qualities that you’d like to have.”
Minasian said the manager search has taken priority over him knowing what his budget is for the payroll next season.
When they do begin the process of upgrading the roster, they will have plenty of work to do. The Angels have not made the playoffs in 11 years and they haven’t had a winning season in the last 10. They were 72-90 this season.
“First and foremost, it’s pitching,” Minasian said. “We’ve got to pitch better. That’s No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.”
The Angels ranked 28th in the majors in ERA. Their starting rotation has only three spots filled. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi and right-hander José Soriano will return to the rotation. Minasian revealed Saturday that left-hander Reid Detmers will join the rotation in 2026, after a successful year as a reliever in 2025.
“He’s earned that,” Minasian said. “I think pitching out of the bullpen is definitely going to help him transition back to the rotation. He was a different guy. I think he really grew up. He’d say the same thing if you asked him. So he’ll be in the rotation. He’ll be part of that rotation, and then we’ll see what happens with the last two spots.”
Minasian added that they will “look at all different avenues to make the rotation significantly better.”
Minasian also said the Angels will look to upgrade at center field and third base. (Third baseman Anthony Rendon, who had hip surgery this spring, still hasn’t begun baseball activity, Minasian said.)
Minasian didn’t close the door on Jo Adell returning to center field, though. While he acknowledged that center field is “from a defensive makeup standpoint, not the best position for him,” he said the Angels played better when they had Adell in center.
They’d like to have Mike Trout back in right field, instead of limited to designated hitter.
“At the end of the day, we’ll see how his offseason goes,” Minasian said. “We’ll see where he comes in during camp, and we’ll go from there.”
Jorge Soler was forced to play outfield when Trout was at DH, and his body didn’t respond well. He was hurt for most of the second half.
“I do believe there are things he can do physically to help him not necessarily get injured, so those are some of the things we addressed at the end of the year,” Minasian said.
Minasian also said that Christian Moore will “come into camp and compete in some form or fashion,” which also suggests the Angels consider second base to be an open position.
Whatever combination of players they have in the lineup, they would like to cut down their strikeouts. The Angels finished with the second-most strikeouts in major-league history this season.
Minasian also acknowledged the Angels need to get better defensively.
If this all sounds familiar, it should.
The Angels have been on a constant cycle of disappointment, optimistic talk and then more disappointment.
When asked if the Angels are close enough to contend next season, Minasian was noncommittal, as usual.
“I don’t make predictions,” Minasian said. “The goal this offseason is to make the team as good as we can make it. I understand we do this for the fans. This is the reason why we play, and they’re the ones who support us. They come out. We’re going to do everything in our power to build a team that’s capable of going out there and winning night in and night out, and a team that the fans really enjoy watching an exciting brand of baseball.”
The Angels did win nine more games in 2025 than they did in 2024. Even though their overall run-differential and most peripheral numbers suggested that they weren’t that much better, Minasian said he was still encouraged.
“One of the issues we’ve had this year was consistency,” he said. “We saw flashes where we played against really good teams, and we played some of our best baseball. Did all the little things right. Intensity was there. And then there were times where we played teams that don’t necessarily line up from a win-loss record at certain times of the year, and we performed very poorly, very inconsistent. Played sloppy. So consistency is going to be a big key on how we turn this thing around.”
NOTES
Minasian said right-hander Robert Stephenson is still seeking opinions to determine what course they’ll take with his injured right elbow. “We’re still digging in on what exactly is happening,” Minasian said. “We should have more on that in the coming weeks.” …
Minasian said the Angels will be “making some adjustments” with their medical and training staffs, but he didn’t specify beyond that. …
Minasian said the Angels coaches are all free to pursue other opportunities for now. Once a new manager is hired, they will fill out the coaching staff, possibly with some of the current coaches returning.