Ron Washington was forced to miss the majority of the 2025 MLB season due to health issues, but he apparently has every intention of returning to the dugout in 2026.
The Los Angeles Angels manager Washington spoke this week to Sam Blum of The Athletic amid the final days of the 2025 regular season. Washington said in the interview that he plans to have a conversation with team owner Arte Moreno about potentially returning to manage the team next season.
“I was hoping I’d get to see [Moreno] this homestead, but he hasn’t made it here yet to the game,” Washington said. “I just want to sit down and talk baseball with him. I’ll let them decide if I’m the guy to lead the club.
“My health is very important,” Washington added. “But I don’t think my health is going to have anything to do with me getting back. I’ll be fully ready to get back. I have no doubt about that. It’s just a matter of [general manager] Perry [Minasian] and the owner making a decision … I’m gonna be in an organization. So if I’m not managing here, I’m not saying I’m gonna be managing somewhere else. But I’m gonna be in someone’s organization.”
Washington later said in the interview that he has no interest in a front-office role, noting that he is a “hands-on” guy. Additionally, Washington said that he expects his rehab from heart surgery to be complete by December and that he has been doing 30 minutes of cardiovascular work a day along with cutting out cigarettes entirely.
You can read Washington’s full interview with Blum here.
Now 73 years old, Washington was hired as Angels manager before the 2024 season. But he had to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team in June due to what at the time was an undisclosed health issue (with bench coach Ray Montgomery stepping in as interim manager). Last month, Washington then revealed that he had been forced to undergo quadruple bypass surgery over the summer.
Washington has gone just 99-137 (.419) during his time actively managing the Angels (though Montgomery’s record of 36-50 (.419) since taking over also counts towards Washington’s official record). As it stands right now, Washington has a club option for the 2026 season that the team still has yet to decide on. While Washington, who is already the oldest active manager in MLB, would clearly like to return to the Angels dugout next year, it is unclear at this point if the organization feels the same way about him.
