Angels Have One of MLB's Most Diverse Staffs Ever Under Ron Washington
Just two weeks after the Angels made the move to hire Ron Washington and make him the first Black manager in franchise history, the Angels are making more historical moves by creating one of the most diverse staffs in the MLB.
So far, the Angels have hired Johnny Washington, Eric Young Sr., and Bo Porter to be members of this staff, giving them at least four coaches who are Black.
The Angels also made another addition to the staff by signing former Angels pitcher and assistant pitching coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks Barry Enright to become the team's pitching coach for the 2024 season, making him the youngest coach on the staff at 37 years old.
Following the addition of Enright, another example of diversity in this group is the age range. While Young Sr. and Ron Washington are the only members on this staff over the age 70 range, both Johnny Washington and Enright are under 40 years old while Bo Porter is 51, which could give this group a good blend of old school and new school baseball strategy.
With Ron Washington's staff being one of the more diverse and inclusive in baseball, the one thing that remains true for all members of this staff is they're all great baseball minds with plenty of experience.
Young Sr. is a former player and has coached for a long time — he's also the father of a former Angels player, Eric Young Jr., who is a former teammate of superstar centerfielder Mike Trout from 2017 and 2018.
Enright was a former pitcher with the Angels in 2012 and 2013 while Porter played with the Chicago Cubs, Oakland A's, and Texas Rangers from 1999 to 2001. Porter has also coached since 2007 and even served as the Houston Astros manager from 2013 to 2014, managing against Ron Washington.
While the Angels staff isn't necessarily complete yet, I would expect the Angels to continue on hiring more diverse names to this clubhouse. With the Padres manager position becoming filled yesterday, we could potentially see the Angels bring back Benji Gil to continue his role as the infield coach as starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval endorsed Gil for the vacant manager position before they hired Washington.
