The Angels' hire of Kurt Suzuki as their manager was met with much fanfare, given his strong track record across 16 years of big-league service from 2007 to '22.
However, Suzuki's arrival has reportedly come with a catch.
Los Angeles has Suzuki on a one-year contract, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from Sam Blum of The Athletic. That, Blum noted, is a highly unusual arrangement for a managerial contract.
Almost all managerial contracts are multiyear deals, such as (to cite a recent example) the Rangers' hire of Skip Schumaker on a four-year contract. As Blum mentioned, issues related to contract length reportedly scuttled the Angels' negotiations with former first baseman Albert Pujols.
Suzuki, 42, played the last two years of his career with Los Angeles. He also spent time with the Athletics, Nationals, Twins and Braves, slashing .255/.314/.388 with 143 home runs and 730 RBIs lifetime.
He takes over an Angels team that has not made the playoffs since 2014 and has not won a postseason game since the 2009 American League division series.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Angels' Contract With Kurt Suzuki Contains a Very Unusual Provision.