Ron Washington has not publicly shared the nature of the health concern that forced him to turn over managing duties to bench coach Ray Montgomery on a day-to-day basis. But there are some reasons to be optimistic that Washington will be back in an Angels uniform soon. Friday, after addressing the team in a closed-door meeting, Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters in Anaheim that he didn’t expect Washington’s absence to be “too long.” More news: Angels Place All-Star Outfielder on Injured List, Promote Gustavo Campero Washington was at the ballpark Friday and Saturday. According to Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group, Washington “said he’s hoping to be back on the job soon.” Washington, 73, is the oldest manager in Major League Baseball. He’s about halfway through the final guaranteed year of his contract, which includes a team option for 2026 according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic . More news: Angels Star Outfielder Linked to 4 Contenders in Potential Trade Deadline Blockbuster After several years coaching in the minors, Washington got his first major league job with the Oakland Athletics as a first base coach from 1996-06. He got his first managerial job with the Texas Rangers in 2007, and brought them to two World Series before he resigned in 2014. Washington returned to the A’s in 2015 as an infield coach, then moved to be their third base coach in the same season. Washington left Oakland once more after 2016 to join the Atlanta Braves as a third base coach, where he won his first World Series in 2021. More news: Angels’ Ron Washington Receives Hall of Fame Induction The Angels hired Washington to replace Phil Nevin after the 2023 season. They went 63-99 in his first season, the worst record in franchise history. In his second year as manager, the Angels were off to a 36-38 start entering their weekend series against the Astros when Montgomery took over for Washington. More news: Angels Met With Prospective No. 2 MLB Draft Pick The Angels held an impromptu meeting 20 minutes into the media’s schedule clubhouse time Friday, likely so players could be notified of Washington’s absence. Minasian said the Halos skipper had not felt great for a few days prior to the announcement. More news: Angels Projected to Take College Lefty in New Mock MLB Draft “Health is the most important thing,” Minasian said Friday . “I’m not letting him manage until he’s 100%. Wash will be around, but he won’t be in the dugout.” Washington was recently inducted into the Tidewater Baseball Shrine , a local Hall of Fame based in Virginia. For more MLB news, head over to Angels on SI. J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.