ANAHEIM, Calif. — First-year Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki is working on an expiring contract with a stumbling team on the verge of changing owners. By definition, he’s in danger of losing his job.Yet when the Angels fired three of their big-league pitching coaches Aug. 11, the manner of the announcement was almost as notable as the decision itself. And it offered, perhaps, a glimpse of how Suzuki might return for a second year as manager.John Mozeliak — the interim general manager charged with repairing the rotten organization — did not take responsibility. Mozeliak and Suzuki sat on the same podium, with Mozeliak stating firmly that “We decided to make a change.”It was a significant signal indicating a strong working relationship between them. One that felt less like a pairing of circumstances and more like a genuine budding partnership, a future that is now uncertain under incoming owner Stan Kroenke.Mozeliak is committed to the team only through the end of the calendar year. The expected lockout will take effect Dec. 1. Arte Moreno’s sale of the Angels to Kroenke is not expected to become official until early 2027.Unless the Angels decide to operate without a manager or front office during the lockout, substantive decisions on Mozeliak and Suzuki will be necessary before Moreno — who will remain as minority owner — hands off control of the team.Might Kroenke quietly instruct him to keep only Mozeliak and hire another manager, possibly even Albert Pujols, who played for Mozeliak in St. Louis, and remains under a personal-services contract to the Angels? Such a scenario would seem possible.The day the Angels fired their pitching coaches, however, Mozeliak spoke highly of the 42-year-old Suzuki. And his opinion has not changed since.“This is a difficult year. There are definitely challenges,” Mozeliak said Aug. 11. “I just appreciate that he wants to try to do things to move this forward. I have a lot of empathy for that, and I have a lot of gratitude for that. I think those are important traits.”This week, Mozeliak strongly endorsed Suzuki again, even as the 56-90 Angels were barely ahead of the Colorado Rockies, who own the worst record in the majors.“Obviously, we’re going to have to address that at some point,” Mozeliak told The Athletic of Suzuki’s future as manager. “I need some guidance on expectations. But I will say this: I’ve really enjoyed working with him. I find him very impressive. It’s always hard to judge managers, especially when your team is struggling. But there’s a lot going on down there, and I think overall he’s making the best of it.”Suzuki lacked managing and coaching experience when former Angels general manager Perry Minasian hired him in October 2025. Suzuki was a rookie manager on a one-year deal tasked with overseeing several players he had called teammates just a few years before. The nearly unprecedented circumstances tied Suzuki to Minasian, who was a lame-duck GM at the time.