Los Angeles Angels hire former
catcher Kurt Suzuki as their next manager
[October 22, 2025]
By GREG BEACHAM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels hired former major
league catcher Kurt Suzuki as their next manager on Tuesday.
Suzuki has spent the past three seasons as a special assistant to
Angels general manager Perry Minasian, who didn't have to look far
to find the fifth person to serve as the Halos' manager during
Minasian's five years in charge.
Suzuki played 16 seasons in the major leagues for five teams,
earning an All-Star selection with Minnesota in 2014 and winning a
World Series with Washington in 2019.
Suzuki finished his career with two years in Anaheim, retiring after
the 2022 season. Suzuki also won the College World Series while
playing for Cal State Fullerton, located a few miles from Angel
Stadium.
The 42-year-old Suzuki replaces Ron Washington, who wasn't brought
back to the Angels' dugout after two losing seasons. Washington
missed the second half of the current season after undergoing
quadruple bypass heart surgery, with Ray Montgomery filling in while
Los Angeles finished in last place in the AL West.
The Angels pivoted to Suzuki and fellow special assistant to the GM
Torii Hunter as their top candidates after talks with former slugger
Albert Pujols broke down in recent days. Pujols, who has a personal
services contract with the Angels, was the early front-runner for
the job as a longtime favorite of owner Arte Moreno.
Pujols and Suzuki both have no major league coaching experience.
Suzuki is the Angels' fifth full-time manager in the past eight
seasons since Mike Scioscia was let go. The team has the majors'
longest active streaks of futility, with 10 straight losing seasons
and 11 consecutive non-playoff seasons.
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Los Angeles Angels catcher Kurt Suzuki gestures as he leaves a
baseball game against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning
in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Godofredo A.
Vásquez, File)
Although Minasian has assembled a modestly exciting
young core led by shortstop Zach Neto and outfielder Jo Adell to
join three-time MVP Mike Trout, the team has shown few signs of
emerging from its decade-plus of profound struggle under Moreno’s
stewardship. The Angels went 72-90 last season, finishing 13th in
the American League.
A fourth-generation Japanese-American from Hawaii, Suzuki joins Don
Wakamatsu and Dave Roberts on the short list of former and current
MLB managers with Asian heritage. Suzuki is also the first
Hawaiian-born full-time manager in major league history, the Angels
said.
Suzuki would take over the Angels' dugout during another chapter of
negative publicity for the beleaguered franchise, which is currently
involved in a highly public trial over a wrongful death lawsuit
filed by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died of a drug
overdose in 2019. Trout testified in the trial Tuesday.
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