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The Los Angeles Angels were left without a coach, as Joe Maddon was fired. Third-base coach Phil Nevin will now become interim manager. "Tough day," general manager Perry Minasian said, as quoted by MLB.com "Not something that I thought was going to happen three weeks ago, but I felt like it was in the best interest of the club going forward to make a change at the managerial position.
I love Joe Maddon. … This morning was really tough, but my job in this position is to do what’s best for the organization, day in and day out. And I don’t take that lightly. I wake up thinking about it, I go to bed thinking about it, and where we were today, waking up today, I felt like it was the right thing to do." Maddon did not expect this to happen, but it seems that the club had other plans, and did not have patience for him.
“You always rely on people in charge to read the tea leaves properly,” Maddon said for The Athletic. “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”.
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Players feel that Maddon is not the only culprit. “Obviously, this is not all Joe’s fault,” Shohei Ohtani said. “Players are, myself [included], to blame, because I was underperforming”.
Many now expect Phil Nevin to change things. “You have a guy here for three years, you build relationships that are obviously bigger than just baseball,” Mike Trout said “You got to know him. So it’s just tough, but we’re moving in a new direction [with Nevin]”.
“Nev has worked a long time to get this opportunity,” Archie Bradley said. “Regardless of how it came to him, I’m excited for him, personally. I think our team’s excited for him, and I think he’ll be the guy to lead us and get this thing turned around”.