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Angels Retain Ray Montgomery As Bench Coach

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The Angels will retain bench coach Ray Montgomery in his current role next season, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Montgomery had reportedly been among the candidates to replace Phil Nevin as manager before the job ultimately went to Ron Washington.

Montgomery, 54, was an outfielder who played for the Astros in parts of three seasons, from 1996 to 1998. After retiring as a player in 2001, Montgomery joined the Brewers as an area scout in 2002, spending five seasons in the role before moving up the organizational ladder to become the club’s Midwest supervisor and, ultimately, assistant scouting director. All told, Montgomery spent nine seasons in Milwaukee’s scouting department before departing to become director of amateur scouting with the Diamondbacks in 2011. After four years in Arizona, Montgomery returned to the Brewers as a vice president and special assistant, a role he would hold for six seasons.

Montgomery joined the Angels in 2021, though he initially joined the organization in a front office role with the title director of player personnel. He made his move to the dugout prior to the 2022 season, replacing Mike Gallego as bench coach to Joe Maddon for the first coaching gig of his lengthy career in baseball. Washington will be the third manager under whom Montgomery serves in the Anaheim dugout, having remained in his role as bench coach after Maddon was fired and replaced with Nevin, who at the time was the club’s third base coach.

Retaining Montgomery offers the Angels some level of continuity heading into the 2024 campaign. The club’s coaching staff has undergone plenty of turnover since Washington took the helm, with first base coach Bo Porter, hitting coach Johnny Washington, and pitching coach Barry Enright among the club’s many coaching additions this offseason.

Latest On Angels’ Managerial Search

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Three teams landed new managers on Monday, but there’s still plenty more to be done on that front around baseball. The Angels continue to search for a new dugout leader after declining an option on Phil Nevin at the start of the offseason.

It seems that search could be nearing its conclusion. Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted this morning the Halos could finalize a new hire by the end of the week. Jon Heyman of the New York Post listed a handful of candidates for the position (on X): Buck Showalter, Ron Washington, Gary DiSarcina, Benji Gil and Ray Montgomery. That isn’t necessarily an exhaustive list, as Heyman leaves open the possibility for another candidate to emerge.

Whether all five of those people have already interviewed with Halos brass is unclear. Showalter has been perhaps the most frequently mentioned candidate for the job. Gil and Montgomery make for natural candidates since they’re already on staff — the former as infield coach, the latter as bench coach.

DiSarcina also has myriad ties to the organization. He played for the Halos for the entirety of his 12-year playing career, earning an All-Star selection in 1995. He spent time in the front office at the beginning of the 2010s and logged three seasons on Mike Scioscia’s coaching staff. DiSarcina spent the last two seasons on Dave Martinez’s staff in Washington as third base coach. The Nationals announced last month that he would not return.

Ron Washington has spent seven seasons with the Braves as third base coach. The former Ranger skipper has come up in various managerial searches in recent years but hasn’t gotten a job since resigning from Texas at the end of the 2014 season. Washington led Texas to consecutive pennants in 2010-11 amidst a nearly eight-year run in Arlington.

Recent reports have named former Angels players Darin Erstad and Torii Hunter as potential options. Heyman confirms the Angels have spoken with Hunter but casts doubt on the fit, noting that owner Arte Moreno appears to prefer someone with prior MLB managerial experience. That could give the upper hand to Showalter or Washington, although it’s tough to pinpoint a specific favorite.

Major League Baseball Issues 12 Suspensions For Angels – Mariners Brawl

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Major League Baseball has handed down 12 suspensions arising from yesterday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Angels and Mariners. The league also handed out undisclosed fines. Nine of the individuals disciplined are from the Angels, while the Mariners lose a trio of players. The discipline is as follows:

Angels

  • Interim manager Phil Nevin: Ten games
  • Third baseman Anthony Rendon: Five games
  • Assistant pitching coach Dom Chiti: Five games
  • Right-hander Andrew Wantz: Three games
  • Right-hander Ryan Tepera: Two games
  • Right-hander Raisel Iglesias: Two games
  • Bench coach Ray Montgomery: Two games
  • Interpreter Manny del Campo: Two games
  • Catching coach Bill Haselman: One game

Mariners

The fight occurred during yesterday afternoon’s contest (video link). Wantz, who opened the game for the Halos, threw a pitch behind Rodríguez in the first inning. That came on the heels of the Angels taking umbrage to an up-and-in offering from Erik Swanson to Mike Trout the night before, and it resulted in warnings from the umpiring crew. Wantz nevertheless hit Winker with the first pitch of the following inning. The Seattle left fielder initially seemed as if he’d simply take first base, but he wound up making his way towards the Angels’ dugout. That kicked off a few minutes of fighting that eventually resulted in the ejections of Wantz, Winker, Crawford, Rodríguez, Nevin, Tepera, Iglesias and Seattle manager Scott Servais.

Wantz’s suspension is for “intentionally throwing at Winker while warnings were in place,” according to MLB. Nevin has been suspended for Wantz’s pitches, while everyone else involved was banned for their roles in the melee itself.

Players are afforded an appellate right for on-field discipline. MLB announced that Wantz has already foregone his appeal and will begin serving his suspension today. The league didn’t indicate that any other players had done that, so they’ll remain on the roster while their suspensions are being heard. Rendon is on the injured list after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery two weeks ago. His suspension won’t take effect until he’s back on the active roster — meaning he’ll presumably miss the first five games of the 2023 season.

Coaches do not have the right to appeal their suspensions. Nevin, Chiti and del Campo will begin serving their bans tonight; Montgomery and Haselman will be out once Chiti returns five games from now.

Notably, players suspended for on-field rules violations cannot be replaced on the active roster. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that the Mariners will be permitted to stagger any bans for their suspended players so as not to have the position player group decimated at the same time — it’s unclear if a similar setup will be in place for the Halos’ bullpen — but the teams will both be playing short-handed for a while once the appeals process is sorted out. While the Angels were dealt significantly more suspensions in terms of quantity, Seattle will feel the bigger hit in on-field production (assuming the suspensions aren’t overturned on appeal) with the subtraction of a trio of regulars from the lineup.

Angels To Hire Ray Montgomery As Bench Coach

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The Angels are hiring director of player personnel Ray Montgomery as their bench coach, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (on Twitter). Heyman tweeted last night that Montgomery had emerged as a candidate for the position.

It’s an interesting hire, as Montgomery has not yet worked on a big league coaching staff. The 52-year-old does, however, have plenty of experience in scouting and front office roles. That includes stints as scouting director with the Brewers and Diamondbacks.

After being hired as Angels general manager during the 2019-20 offseason, Perry Minasian quickly added the New York native to Anaheim’s front office. Montgomery also has some playing experience, having briefly appeared in the majors as an outfielder with the Astros in the late 1990’s.

It’s not entirely clear what role previous bench coach Mike Gallego will have moving forward. He’s expected to remain on Joe Maddon’s staff in some capacity. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported yesterday that Gallego might return to third base coaching, a role he held in 2019. Phil Nevin had seemingly been tabbed as third base coach in November, but that may no longer be the case. Rosenthal now reports that Nevin’s role with the Angels is yet to be determined, but he is still expected to take on some role on Maddon’s staff.

Kim Ng, Four Others Among D-Backs GM Candidates

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The Diamondbacks appear to have compiled at least a preliminary list of potential general manager candidates to take over for the departing Dave Stewart, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). In addition to a quartet of men with ties to the organization, MLB senior VP Kim Ng is under consideration, per the report.

Ng has long been discussed as a front office target for organizations, and has interviewed for top baseball ops positions on several occasions. A former assistant GM with the Dodgers, Ng would become the game’s first-ever female general manager if she is hired for this or another open job.

Additionally, Arizona is looking at current AGM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell — as has previously been reported. Minniti just completed his second season in that role for the D-Backs after previously serving in a similar capacity with the Nationals. Bell has held his post with Arizona for six seasons.

Former D-Backs’ scouting guru and current Brewers vice president of scouting Ray Montgomery is also under consideration, as is former Arizona AGM Peter Woodfork, who currently works with Ng in the league office. Montgomery went to Milwaukee before the team brought in David Stearns as its GM, a post for which he was also considered. And Woodfork, who has also spent time with the Red Sox, was a part of the Diamondbacks for five years before returning to MLB in March of 2011. MLBTR highlighted his GM candidacy back in 2011.

It is not immediately apparent how complete this list of candidates is, and certainly it wouldn’t be surprising to see it grow. After all, the team only parted ways with Stewart on Monday.

Latest On Diamondbacks’ Front Office

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With chief strategy officer Tony La Russa losing his hold on the Diamondbacks’ baseball department and Dave Stewart now out as general manager, the club is set for its fourth regime change in six-plus years. That lack of stability has some executives around the majors wary of working for the organization, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

“Do they give the next person a six-year contract and come hell or high water they’re not going to fire them?” one rival exec asked Piecoro. “Or have they demonstrated this is how they do business and if things don’t work out in 24 -36 months they’ll make more changes? Moving your family for that level of insecurity, juxtaposed to the security that some of us have — that’s a tough sell to the family.”

One potential GM candidate whose name has come up in other teams’ searches informed Piecoro his interest in taking over the Diamondbacks would be “zero” because of “some of the dysfunction up there.” Other executives Piecoro spoke to are also leery of the job, with some expressing concern over the personalities of owner Ken Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall. The latter signed an eight-year contract extension in August, so any new hire(s) will have to coexist with him and Kendrick for the long haul. Despite that, Hall doesn’t expect the team to have difficulty finding executives willing to take the helm in Arizona.

In regards to GM jobs, Hall said Monday, “There’s only 30 of these. And they’re special jobs and there are a lot of qualified people out there who are looking for that opportunity. We’re hoping the next person is in that role for a long time and that will be expressed.”

Another rival executive backed Kendrick and Hall, saying, “Listen, you have to be skeptical with that amount of turnover. But absolutely, 100 percent, you can win there with those guys.”

In a move that could perhaps help scare off potential hires, Diamondbacks ownership reportedly blocked a trade that would have sent struggling right-hander Shelby Miller to Miami over the summer. Nevertheless, Hall is content with the organization’s decision-making structure.

“It’s very common with all 30 clubs, where if you’re going to have a large decision to make, a very big decision, an impactful decision, it’s going to go all the way up the flagpole and everybody is going to weigh in, whether it is the owner of any ballclub – the owner, president, GM, all opinions are going to be weighed at that time,” said Hall. “It’s a matter of allowing people to do their jobs but also weighing in when there’s a matter of extreme importance, which I think is not uncommon anywhere.”

Stewart didn’t speak negatively of either Kendrick or Hall after his dismissal. However, Stewart did reveal that he and Kendrick “were oil and water” in terms of their personalities. On whether the franchise was too quick to ax Stewart after hiring him in September 2014, Kendrick offered, “Since Dave Stewart was hired two years ago, there have been 16 general managers hired. Sixteeen. What does that tell you? It’s a tough business” (Twitter link via Piecoro).

Stewart’s successor could be someone with past Diamondbacks experience, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who points to Brewers scouting director Ray Montgomery as a “natural strong candidate” (Twitter link). The 47-year-old Montgomery was previously the D-backs’ scouting director from 2010-14.

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