The future of the Los Angeles Angels remains a question mark with owner Arte Moreno announcing his plans to seek out a potential buyer for the team, he could also muddy up the managerial search for general manager Perry Minasian to find a long-term skipper.
Interim manager Phil Nevin has been at the helm since early June following the exodus of former manager, Joe Maddon, and since then, they have continued their long and slow spiral out of contention.
The Angels haven’t faired well in the win column under Nevin, but with a slew of new faces after this year’s trade deadline, he could be a candidate to return, via Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
The pending sale of the club complicates things. Owner Arte Moreno might not allow GM Perry Minasian to sign a new manager to a multi-year contract, a scenario that could lead to interim manager Phil Nevin returning on a short-term deal.
Nevin, who managed more than 1,000 games in the minors, will remain a candidate for the permanent position even if the Angels conduct a full search.
Nevin has expressed optimism with the Angels’ roster, and if he does indeed stick around past this season, they’ll at the very least have a manager at the helm who has seen his fair share of the tough road to success.
Phil Nevin’s road to Angels manager
Nevin has a decent coaching résumé under his belt already, which began in 2008 when he took over as the manager of the Orange County Flyers in the independent Golden Baseball League. 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.
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