On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Angels declared that they would not be exercising Kurt Suzuki’s contract option and indicated plans to search for a new manager for the upcoming 2027 season.
Although Suzuki will not be managing the team next year, there is a possibility he may stay within the organization in a different capacity, according to a statement from Angels consultant and former St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak.
Suzuki’s tenure as the manager was brief, spanning merely one year. During that time, he steered the team to a 62-100 record, resulting in a last-place finish within the American League West.
Suzuki’s swift termination was always on the table. Following the announcement of his hiring, reports surfaced that the Angels had extended Suzuki only a one-year contract, which he accepted. At that moment, the franchise indicated that this arrangement would align Suzuki and general manager Perry Minasian on the same contract schedule.
Minasian was let go in June, leading the team to appoint Mozeliak as the interim general manager for the remaining duration of the 2026 season.
Even after parting ways with Minasian, the Angels chose to retain Suzuki for the remainder of the season, resulting in a quite tumultuous experience.
In August, pitching coach Mike Maddux along with two assistants were dismissed just a few months after their arrival in the organization. Shortly after, Arte Moreno consented to sell the Angels to Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams, for an unprecedented $4 billion.
The sale—coupled with Suzuki’s contract situation and the results from 2026—offered the Angels a chance to overhaul the team’s structure before the 2027 season.
Seizing that opportunity, the franchise will now need to appoint both a new general manager and manager prior to the next season’s commencement. While this has posed a challenge for the organization in recent years, the sale to Kroenke has positioned the Angels as one of the more appealing destinations in baseball, representing a significant shift from the team’s previous image under Moreno.
