Brad Ausmus may lose his job as manager of the Los Angeles Angels after just one year with the team, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
His status has been under review by the team's leadership in recent days, at the end of what has been a disappointing season on the field and a tragic one off the field, with the midseason death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
The Angels finished 72-90, 35 games behind the American League West champion Houston Astros, and failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
If the 49-year-old Ausmus is fired, then there will be immediate speculation that his replacement will be Joe Maddon, who was just pushed out by the Chicago Cubs. Before his first big-league managerial job with the Rays, Maddon worked for years in the Angels organization, and sources say that owner Arte Moreno has high regard for Maddon.
Ausmus was hired as the franchise's first new manager in nearly two decades with Mike Scioscia's departure after the 2018 season. Scioscia managed 19 major league seasons, wound up with 1,650 career victories and led the wild-card Angels to a World Series title in 2002.