The Los Angeles Angels and former Cubs manager Joe Maddon have agreed to terms on a three-year deal to become the team's next manager, the team announced on Wednesday. The agreement is expected to be a three-year deal in the $12 million-$15 million range, ESPN's Jesse Rogers adds.
The Angels finished 72-90 and fired Brad Ausmus after just one season. Immediately after the announcement of Ausmus' dismal, Maddon was deemed the favorite for the available managerial position. The Angels reportedly had interest in Maddon, even before he and the Cubs parted ways at season's end. Angels general manager Billy Eppler has said the Angels intend to interview a number of candidates, but it seems as if Maddon emerged as the top choice for the gig.
Maddon, 65, spent 30 years in the Angels' organization as a catcher, scout, coach and manager in the minor-league system before working on the big-league coaching staff from 1994-2005. The final six years in L.A. were spent as former Angel manager Mike Scioscia's bench coach from 2000-05.
Maddon would be inheriting a team with top talents like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, but the Angels haven't made the playoffs since 2014 and are coming off a season in which they lost 90 games for the first time in 20 years.
In his five seasons with Chicago, Maddon's teams won at least 90 games four times, and notched at least four postseason victories in three of them. That includes, obviously, the 2016 World Series championship team. Maddon, 65, also managed the low-budget Tampa Bay Rays from 2006-14, which included the franchise's only World Series appearance in 2008.
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