The Texas Rangers are moving into a new era under manager Skip Schumaker, but they’ll be doing it without one of the most respected pitching minds in the game. Mike Maddux, the architect behind Texas’ league-best ERA in 2025, is heading west to join the Los Angeles Angels and their new manager, Kurt Suzuki.
It’s a surprising shift, especially considering the success Maddux helped engineer in Arlington. After all, this is the same coach who guided a pitching staff through a gauntlet of injuries and inconsistencies to a 3.47 ERA – the best mark in all of Major League Baseball this past season. With arms like Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi leading the charge, and Jack Leiter emerging as a bona fide rotation piece, Maddux’s fingerprints were all over the Rangers’ pitching success.
But sometimes, baseball is about timing and opportunity. According to multiple sources, the Angels received permission last week to speak with Maddux, and things moved quickly from there.
While the Rangers did make an effort to retain him – reportedly extending an offer after the Angels made their interest known – the sides couldn’t come to terms. The Angels haven’t formally announced the hire, but it’s expected to be a one-year deal.
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young acknowledged the departure with gratitude and respect.
“Mike has played a major role for some of the best teams in Rangers history, including the franchise’s first World Series title in 2023,” Young said. “We wish him the best.”
Maddux’s departure marks the end of his second stint with the Rangers. He returned in 2023 to join Bruce Bochy’s staff and helped guide the club through a rollercoaster season that ended with a championship – the first in franchise history.
But his legacy in Texas goes back even further. He was the pitching coach during the Ron Washington years, helping lead the Rangers to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.
This most recent stretch was classic Maddux: steady, adaptable, and quietly brilliant. Even with key arms like Max Scherzer, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford missing significant time in 2024, the staff stayed competitive.
And in 2025, they didn’t just survive – they dominated. Tyler Mahle and Patrick Corbin provided valuable innings, but the emergence of Leiter may have been the most important storyline of all.
The rookie held his own across the season, solidifying his spot in the 2026 rotation and giving the Rangers a young, controllable arm to build around.
Now, Schumaker faces the challenge of building his first coaching staff without one of the game’s most experienced pitching minds. The Rangers haven’t made any formal announcements about their 2026 staff, but bullpen coach Jordan Tiegs and pitching analyst Dave Bush are logical internal candidates to replace Maddux. Both come with strong credentials: Tiegs is a former minor-league pitching coordinator for the Rangers, and Bush previously served as the Red Sox pitching coach.
Young has emphasized that the team isn’t entering a rebuild – far from it. The plan is to go younger, with a focus on player development, but the expectations remain high. That’s why retaining key staff members like Maddux, Tiegs, and Bush had been a stated priority – though ultimately, those decisions also had to align with the vision of the new skipper.
Schumaker and Maddux do have history – they were both on the Cardinals’ coaching staff in 2022 – but that connection wasn’t enough to keep Maddux in Arlington.
This marks the second confirmed departure from the 2025 coaching staff. Catching coordinator Bobby Wilson was informed earlier this month that he wouldn’t be returning. With coaching contracts typically expiring at the end of October, the Rangers are expected to announce their full 2026 staff soon.
For now, the Rangers are left to fill some big shoes. Maddux didn’t just help build elite pitching staffs – he helped define an era of Rangers baseball.
His departure is a reminder that even in the midst of success, change is constant. And in Arlington, the next chapter is already underway.
