If ever a team needed a manager like Joe Maddon — the upbeat, cheerleading, rally-behind-a-cause Joe Maddon — it’s the Angels right now.



The other story with this club — the possibility that the Angels were aware of left-hander Tyler Skaggs’ drug use long before his death — is not going away, and should not go away. At one of the darkest moments in club history, the Angels need a public face who will move the franchise forward in an appropriate manner.



Maddon has made mistakes in the public arena before. Remember when he initially said he would not read the blog post of Addison Russell’s ex-wife, Melisa Reidy, accusing the Cubs shortstop of domestic violence, preferring to allow baseball’s investigation to unfold?



But over the course of his career, Maddon has shown that he cares about people. He recognizes there is life outside of baseball. He has an award-winning non-profit, the Hazleton Integration Project.