Joe Maddon was relieved of his duties as the manager of the Los Angeles Angels during the 2022 season, with the team in the midst of a 14-game losing streak at the time. Since his firing, Maddon has expressed some displeasure with the way Perry Minasian handled the entire situation.
In fact, Maddon unveiled details about his firing in a recently published book. There, he explained that Minasian disagreed with him on how to handle injury management for players like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
Minasian has neither confirmed nor denied these accusations, instead saying that Maddon was doing what he needed to sell books, and that there were no hard feelings on a personal level. And now, Maddon has walked back some of the angst that came from his initial commentary.
Maddon spoke about the way he approached his book and how there was no anger from him towards any of the parties he discussed, according to Sarah Valenzuela of The L.A. Times:
“I’m not trying to vilify anybody,” Maddon said. “There was no attack anywhere. All these people that maybe I disagree with, I really like. There’s a difference. I’m not angry. I’m not upset at anything right now. I wanted to clarify it and really speak on behalf of baseball.”
At the time his comments about the Angels were initially revealed, it came as a huge disappointment. Maddon was clamored for within the Angels fanbase for years before his hiring, and it was particularly upsetting to see his relationship with the team end on a sour note.
But now, both Minasian and Maddon have publicly stated that there is no bad blood between them. Even if that’s not a complete truth, quelling those rumors in the public eye is an important step.
Maddon, of course, also would like to get hired as a manager of a different team at some point. To have a reputation as someone who bashes their former teams would make becoming a manager much more difficult.
Angels not bringing back several coaches
The offseason is just barely getting underway, but with Phil Nevin now at the helm on a one-year contract, changes have already been made to the coaching staff. Hitting coaches Jeremy Reed and John Mallee are confirmed to not be returning in 2023, while third base coach Mike Gallego is being transitioned to an undisclosed role within the organziation.