The Los Angeles Angels fired manager Joe Maddon and announced Phil Nevin has been named as the club’s interim manager.
The decision to fire Maddon comes after the team lost 12 straight games which dropped them back to 8.5-games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and 1.5-games out of a Wild Card spot. The Halos had a hot start to the season and sat in the top Wild Card spot on May 24 when they were 27-17; the team is now 27-29.
The Angels tried to maintain a positive mindset and Maddon shared his belief that the club was still working hard and competing even as the losses began to pile up. Maddon also shared his optimism about the season saying the Angels can turn it around because he’s been in a similar situation before.
Maddon was in the last year of his contract and since they hired him prior to the 2020 season, the team has gone 130-148 with him at the helm. He also spent parts of two seasons, in 1996 and 1999, as an interim manager for the Angels and went 8-14 and 19-10 in those stretches.
However, in his 19-year career as a manager, Maddon has led his teams to a 1,382-1,216 (.532) record with two pennants and a World Series championship in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs.
Phil Nevin’s coaching history
After Nevin retired, he briefly took a broadcast job with ESPN and the San Diego Padres before returning to baseball as a manager of the Orange County Flyers in the independent Golden Baseball League in 2008.
Under his leadership, the Flyers finished 37-39 and he planned to return the following year, but he was hired by the Detroit Tigers organization.
The Tigers named Nevin the manager of the Erie SeaWolves, their Double-A affiliate, and he managed them for one season. The following year, he was promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate. He was later added to the Tigers’ coaching staff during their 2011 playoff run.
Under Nevin, the Mud Hens went 192-238, never finishing higher than third in the division, and he was fired in 2013.
Nevin moved on to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization as the manager of the Triple-A Reno Aces as he led them to an 81-63 record and Pacific Coast League Championship Series berth. He ended up interviewing for the Houston Astros’ open managerial job after the season but stayed with the Aces for two more seasons.
Nevin was hired by the San Francisco Giants as their third base coach after the 2016 season, and after one season he was hired by the New York Yankees as their third base coach, where he stayed through the 2021 season.
The Angels then hired Nevin as their third-base coach for the 2022 season before he took over as the interim coach.
Make sure to follow Angels Nation on Twitter for all the latest news and updates surrounding the Halos!
