Earned, Not Given
October 22, 2025 - Written by Jacob Firmage
Photo Credit: @Angels - X
A recap of the Kurt Suzuki introduction could be described by a statement Kurt reiterated multiple times. Earned, not given. When Sam Blum of The Athletic asked a question along the lines of a one-year deal Kurt answered with a smile and that he had played the last six years of his career on one-year deals, so why not keep it going. He mentioned he needs to earn the job. You could tell in the face of Perry Minasian that Suzuki has done just that. We have seen multiple press conferences with Perry, along with introducing Ron Washington back when he was first hired, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Perry gleam the way he did. Perry got his guy. In that he is on a one-year deal, Perry said “He’s tied in with me”. Perry alluded to that all deals in this business are one-year deals, but that’s not typically the case with a new manager. Typically, they are given multi-year deals. Time to implement their brand of baseball.
So, what does this mean? It means we may just see a desperate Perry Minasian this offseason. He is now not just building a roster for his future job, but the future job of his handpicked manager. He explicitly thanked Arte and Carole Moreno for letting him make the decision. Perry also mentioned how they plan to build a great coaching staff around Kurt. This may prove difficult with only a one-year guarantee. The tandem will likely have to have multiple coaches return from Washington’s staff. They will likely only have one-year deals to offer other coaches. How they build the staff out will be an interesting follow. Another interesting statement that kept arising during the press conference was Kurt referring to the next crop of players on the farm. His conversations with Joey Prebynski who is the director of player development. While I expect an interesting offseason, going into the final year of Perry, will he have the authority to sign multi-year contracts for players? Or will he rely on a mountain of trades and next tier prospects to save the day in Anaheim? The expect to be better, to make another jump. Just how far we will see.
Some other tidbits included in the press conference was that neither Arte Moreno nor John Carpino were in attendance. While we can assume they are busy with the court hearings, I thought, or at least hoped, either could have made themselves available. When Rhett Bollinger asked a question regarding how long he’d been looking into managing, Kurt responded that he wasn’t actively looking. Situations arise and that it made sense. He pointed at times to the fact he played for teams in a lot of different situations, along with nine managers in his career. He has found ways to win on teams that weren’t supposed to, be around teams who expected to win and managers of many different backgrounds. His style of managing will be built by a combination of all of those moments. He isn’t here to reinvent baseball, but bring some excitement back to Angels Baseball. He mentioned he would have been crazy to say coming out of a high school in Maui that he would have played his career, and now be in this position. He knows his strengths. He has faith in his abilities to relate to the talented group Perry has put together. He is proud to be named the first fulltime Hawaiian born manager. Special moment for himself, he’s proud to be from Hawaii and just hopes to be a good role model for the kids back in his home state.
There is plenty more in a press conference I think most fans will want to see. This may just be a one-year deal. We still have little known about what Perry will be allowed to do this offseason, and with how much desperation he will act. I for one wish that Perry could have hired who he felt was best for the job early on in his tenure. So even if for just one year, I am excited to have a General Manager and On Field Manager who seem as in lockstep as these two are. Kurt mentioned the goals and standards in place for the Angels that need to be met. In what should be an interesting year, let’s hope that this tandem, who are tied together for better or worse, can earn the chance to work together for years to come. Because if they can earn that, then we should see what they expect in another big step forward in 2026.
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