The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have decided that enough is enough as they relieved Joe Maddon of his managerial duties on Tuesday evening. This comes after the Angels experienced a 12-game losing streak which is their longest single-season losing streak in franchise history.
The Angels have entered this season with high hopes and were coasting on high success for a good portion of the early season. They started the 21-11 before this recent skid with one of the better offenses in baseball, despite injuries to essential players and inconsistent with the lineup. However that all changed suddenly at the end of May.
One of the more solid defenses in baseball started giving up about 6.4 runs per contest in their last 13 games, the lowest in the league in that stretch and put up embarrassing performances such as a 9-1 loss to the New York Yankees on May 31 and a 10-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on June 3. Their +47 run differential that they sustained through the first 32 games of the season has completely flipped around with the team sporting a -37 differential in their last 24 matchups. On May 15, they were projected to make the playoffs with an 81.4 percent chance, odds that have dropped to 29.9 percent as of today,
General Manager Perry Minasian said that he went to Maddon personally to inform him of the decision to let him go. The decision was, “not something I thought was going to happen three weeks ago,” Minasian said, confirming that the recent lack of success was an instrumental factor in the decision to let Madden go. According to reports team owner, Arte Moreno was also supportive of the decision.
Maddon himself said that his firing was surprising, speaking to Ken Rosenthal, he said, “A little bit. Actually, a lot. You always rely on the people in charge to read the tea leaves properly. This time, they did not. You didn’t even have to ask me. You can ask any of the players or coaches. They’re the ones who really know. Perry was in a tough spot. I understand that. Let me just put it that way. I would really rely on the sentiments of the coaches and the players.” Maddon also said he would like to continue managing.
The Angels will try to get back on track as third base coach Phil Kevin will serve as interim manager.
