Former Los Angeles Angel Darin Erstad could be attractive as team's next manager
Homecoming? One of the better stories swirling around Anaheim has Darin Erstad as a strong candidate to be the next Angel manager.
Of course that job is currently held by Phil Nevin, who is listed as the interim manager. But should the Angels fail once again to reach the playoffs, another managerial change is almost sure to be in the making.
And Nevin did not improve his chances of staying around by losing his well-known temper Sunday in a brawl that led to a whopping 10-game suspension.
Erstad, a beloved player in Anaheim for a dozen years, spent eight seasons coaching at his alma mater, Nebraska. But during that time, he was interviewed for the Los Angeles Dodgers manager’s job where he was given high marks by Andrew Friedman, who called him a natural leader. Erstad withdrew from Dodger consideration to stay close to home and coach the Cornhuskers. The Dodgers then hired Dave Roberts.
Erstad, 48, left his Nebraska job three years ago and is available. Very available.
It would be a wonderful choice.
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How long can the Dodgers survive without their best pitcher – Walker Buehler possibly out for the year – and their best player – Mookie Betts out for an indefinite period?
They seem to be doing it with mirrors as under the radar starting pitchers Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson unexpectedly have gone 17-1!
There are more holes than usual in the Dodgers lineup. Max Muncy continues to struggle, hitting .150. Looks like Cody Bellinger may never recover his MVP form of a few years ago. He’s hitting .211. And mainstay Justin Turner is at .216.
Another big concern is closer Craig Kimbrel, who has been spotty with an ERA of 4.13.
Can the Dodgers fill the holes and make it to the playoffs again?
Don‘t bet against it.
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The 2022 Yankees are ahead of the pace set by the historic 1927 team…
The American League MVP race is shaping up to be a doozy with Aaron Judge of the Yankees and the Angel duo of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani all having MVP years…
Ohtana’s back-to-back games last week – when he drove in eight runs one day and struck out 13 the next – is the best consecutive two games in history…
Palm Desert High’s Brian Serven, profiled by Shad Powers in this paper recently, continues to shine with the Colorado Rockies. He’s hitting a team best .308 through his first 21 games…
Serven’s teammate C.J. Cron is also having a big year with 17 home runs and 54 RBIs. He was a first-round pick of the Angels in 2014, but was seen as expendable after the team signed Albert Pujols for 100 trillion dollars. They traded him to Tampa in 2017 and he’s hit 104 home runs since……
Today is Don Baylor’s birthday. He would have been 73. One of my all-time favorites, the 1979 AL MVP with the Angels died at 68 in 2017…
As a rookie 10 years ago, Trout stole 49 bases. This season, at age 30, he has yet to attempt even one steal…
Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Darin Erstad could be a potential Los Angeles Angels managerial candidate
