The Los Angeles Angels did not expect their season to end the way it did. The Angels ended their season with a 72-90 record. First-year manager Brad Ausmus was fired by the team. As insiders speculate on who could become the Angels next skipper, MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal speculated that Los Angeles would go after Joe Maddon.

As the Cubs season progressed, the writing was on the wall and Cubs president Theo Epstein confirmed that Joe Maddon would not be returning to the Cubs as manager next season. His experience and insight have made him a target for those teams that are in dire need of a general manager.

Maddon turns 66 in February but has already said he wants to continue to manage 3-5 more seasons.

Maddon could bring his postseason insight to Los Angeles

Maddon returning to the Los Angeles Angels would make sense. Maddon spent 31 years in Los Angeles. He was a minor league catcher, scout, minor league manager and a hitting instructor for the Angels farm system. He then became a bench coach for three different Angels managers. Maddon was even named interim manager for the LA Angels.

Los Angeles appeared like they would make a postseason splash with a team that included Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton, Albert Pujols, and others. The team had a strong closer and starting pitchers. However, it all fell apart and success was not in the cards for them this year.

The Angels struggled early on and maintained a .500 record during the first half of the season. They fell two games short of a Wild Card lead. While you can't just blame Ausmus, the team faced a string of injuries to its pitching staff and the shocking death of one of the team's best pitchers.

In 2006, Joe Maddon took over the Tampa Bay Rays as manager.

During his time with Tampa, he recorded 90+ wins, five times. Maddon ended up taking the Rays to a World Series in 2008. The Cubs under Maddon broke the curse and won the World Series in 2016 and also earned a postseason appearance in each of Maddon's first four seasons.

LA does not appear to be cleaning out the entire front office

While Angels General Manager Billy Eppler still has his job, he may need to make a shocking managerial decision. There's plenty of competition for what Maddon offers to those seeking a new skipper. Bringing back Maddon to LA would definitely make Angels owner Arte Moreno more in favor of Eppler.

Brad Ausmus made some very questionable managerial moves, especially when it comes to pitching staff and the bullpen. Like every disaster, someone needs to become the scapegoat. Both Billy Eppler and Arte Moreno need to share some of the blame, in part because they failed to sign any top pitchers.
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