OC Register: Angels nearing deal to name Joe Maddon manager

[AngelsWin.com]

The Angels and Joe Maddon on Wednesday are working out the final details toward bringing the veteran manager back to the organization in which he spent his first 31 years in baseball, sources said.

Maddon could be officially named the Angels manager as soon as later Wednesday, which would end three weeks of speculation about the seemingly inevitable reunion.

Maddon, who had led the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years and had come up as a coach in the Angels system, had been widely assumed to be the next Angels manager even before Brad Ausmus was fired following his only season at the helm.

The Angels also interviewed former managers Buck Showalter and John Farrell and Padres hitting coach Johnny Washington.

Maddon, 65, would return to the Angels after spending more than three decades in the organization. He was a catcher in the minors for four seasons, and in 1979 began a coaching career.

Maddon rose through the system and finally joined the major league staff in 1994. He three times served as an interim manager, including the end of the 1999 season after Terry Collins resigned.

Maddon remained as the bench coach when Mike Scioscia was hired as manager prior to the 2000 season. Maddon was part of the staff when the Angels won the World Series in 2002, and remained through 2005, when he left to manage the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays had lost at least 90 games in the first eight years of their existence, and in the first two seasons under Maddon they lost 101 and 96. In his third year in 2008, Maddon led the Rays to a remarkable turnaround, as they won 97 games, a division title and an American League pennant. They lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.

The Rays went to the playoffs in four of six seasons, from 2008-13. After a losing season in 2014, the Rays let Maddon go, but he was quickly hired by the Cubs.

Coming off a rebuilding plan that included four straight losing seasons, the Cubs brought in Maddon prior to the 2015 season and they won immediately. From 2015-18, the Cubs reached the postseason four years in a row, including their 2016 World Series title.

The playoff streak ended this season, with a September collapse. The Cubs had been in a playoff spot for most of the season, either leading the division lead or holding a wild card spot, until they fell out of it by losing 10 of their last 12 games.

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With Maddon’s contract set to the expire at the end of the season, the Cubs and Maddon announced on the final day of the regular season that he would not be back.

A day later, the Angels fired Ausmus, which to many observers indicated they would go after Maddon.

Ausmus had gone 72-90 in his only season as the Angels manager, losing more games than any Angels team had lost since 1999, before Scioscia.

Owner Arte Moreno was frustrated enough with the performance that he led the move to fire Ausmus, who had two years remaining on his contract.

More to come on this story.

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