Despite a very poor season, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim seem willing to retain longtime manager Mike Scioscia.
According to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, Scioscia’s job isn’t under serious threat despite the Angels sitting 20 games under .500 at 51-71.
Angels general manager Billy Eppler credits Scioscia with being a great communicator and handling the team’s many injuries expertly.
“I don’t see any reason why Mike Scioscia would not be managing the Angels next year,” Eppler said. “He’s been served a great deal of adversity, and he’s managed to keep everything positive, and kept fighting. A lot of people would have approached the situation with a less positive attitude, and Mike did not. Everything’s been great from that standpoint.”
Scioscia is viewed as old school in a game that’s trending the opposite direction, but the Angels seem happy enough with their manager, and they’re likely right that most of the team’s struggles aren’t down to him. It’s also worth noting that Scioscia has two years left on an extremely expensive contract, which may also give the Angels pause in considering firing him. The fact is, the roster simply isn’t good enough, and they’ve had to try to bring in guys like this just to plug the leaks, with little success.
