Angels fire Ausmus after 1 season

The Los Angeles Angels have parted ways with skipper Brad Ausmus, the club announced Monday.

The 50-year-old had two years left on his contract after replacing longtime manager Mike Scioscia prior to the 2019 campaign.

In his lone season as Angels manager, Ausmus guided the club to a 72-90 record. The team finished 35 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West. Los Angeles also dealt with tragedy as left-hander Tyler Skaggs died at the beginning of July.

Angels general manager Billy Eppler and Ausmus were supposed to have their season-ending press conference Monday afternoon, but the team canceled it, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

"I want to thank Brad for his hard work and dedication to this organization over the last two seasons as both a special assistant and field manager," Eppler said in a statement. "He navigated this franchise through one of its most difficult seasons with class and professionalism."

Most of the Angels' coaching staff expects to return in 2020, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Firing Ausmus clears the way for Joe Maddon to potentially return. Maddon spent years with the Angels organization before going to the Tampa Bay Rays. The 65-year-old parted ways with the Chicago Cubs on Sunday after five seasons, highlighted by winning the 2016 World Series.

Maddon is interested in the Angels' vacancy, a source told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The move isn't a foregone conclusion, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN, but a number of his sources believe it's likely.