Los Angeles Angels: Five biggest things on the Angels’ Christmas list

5. Brad Ausmus to be a competent coach

The Los Angeles Angels are undergoing a change of face at the manager position in 2019, something has not happened since the 2000 season.

After managing the Angels for 19 years, Mike Scioscia stepped down as the manager of the Angels, paving the way for Brad Ausmus to take over the role.

Scioscia was not a bad coach but it was time for a change. He has had a ton of success and is the greatest manager in franchise history. Heck, even if Scioscia retires after 2019, he could get into the Hall of Fame as a coach someday.

However, Scioscia was also old-fashioned and you could tell. The Angels have lacked that same spark and intensity that the best teams in baseball have. The league is getting smarter and smarter every year and it was time for the Angels to shift the focus to somehow that could evolve with the times.

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Ausmus was hired as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler prior to the 2018 season and served as the in-house replacement to Scioscia. It was very easy to see this move coming after Scioscia announced that he was stepping down as Ausmus is only nine years removed from the league and coached the Detriot Tigers.

That is the problem. Ausmus was not a great manager at all in Detroit. In four seasons as head coach, Ausmus put together a 314-332 record. While the end of his tenure presented a bad situation to be in, he still underperformed as the manager of a group that had an elite core.

The Tigers should have been World Series contenders in 2014 but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the NLDS. Detroit then missed the playoffs the remaining three years of Ausmus tenure despite the team being playoff-worthy in 2015 and 2016.

Heck, in 2015 the Tigers had Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Jose Iglesias, Yoenis Cespedes, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez all play over 100 games and put up impressive numbers.

The starting rotation was not great but the team still boasted David Price and Justin Verlander, two pitchers that just dominated in back-to-back postseasons. While the team was not perfect, it certainly should not have been a 74-win team.

That is not promising news for Los Angeles Angels fans. Hopefully, Ausmus can be a different manager in 2019 and not fall short with the stars that the Angels have.