Angels News: Phil Nevin Knows He’s Very Lucky to Manage LA

He's excited to get a full season to see what his team can do.

Phil Nevin has had a quick rise to the top of the Angels’ coaching staff.

He joined the Halos in the 2021 offseason, to be the third-base coach under manager Joe Maddon. However, when Maddon’s Angels struggled, and lost 12 games in a row, the Angels were suddenly in the market for a new head coach. Nevin was promoted as the interim.

After a season in which he tried to right the ship, the Angels decided to re-up him for the 2023 season. They didn’t even have a head coaching search — they wanted Nevin to have a full year in charge.

Now the manager of the Angels without an interim tag, Nevin knows how lucky he is to get to be in charge of this team.

"I’m in a great opportunity in a great situation, Nevin said on the MLB Network last week. "There’s a lot of great people around me. A lot of times when you take over these jobs, it’s not in a place where, for when you got two of the best players in the world. We got a pretty good support group around them. I got a front office group that we have great relationships now. And they’re relentless in their work to make us better. We’ve seen that over the last couple weeks since the season ended."

He knows every new manager doesn’t get to join a team with All-MLB First Team talent like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. And he’s loved the offseason that GM Perry Minasian and the rest of the front office have put together. Because of that, he has big goals for next season.

"I know we’re working, we’re striving to be one of those last teams standing," Nevin said. "And I’m very lucky to be in the position I am for sure."

The Angels haven’t made the playoffs since 2014. They seemingly have the talent to do so, maybe they were just missing the right coach. Could Nevin be that guy?