Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is considering a bid on the Angels, according to Sportico’s Eric Jackson and Scott Soshnick. The billionaire isn’t giving official comment, but Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times heard that Soon-Shiong is indeed weighing the possibility of buying the franchise. The 70-year-old Soon-Shiong is a former transplant surgeon who built a fortune in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries, and his business holdings also include both the L.A. Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers.
This isn’t the first time Soon-Shiong has tried to get involved in baseball, as his ownership group was the runner-up bidder for the Dodgers in 2012 when Guggenheim Baseball Management bought the franchise. Now, Soon-Shiong will apparently see if he can purchase the other Los Angeles area team, as Angels owner Arte Moreno said last month that he is considering a sale. There is expected to be plenty of bidding on the Angels, and it seems quite possible that the price tag could end up approaching the $3 billion mark.
More from around the AL West…
- Justin Verlander threw a live bullpen session today, simulating one inning of work with some batters stepping in against the veteran righty. Verlander has been on the 15-day injured list since August 29 due to calf discomfort, and he told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggert and other reporters that he hoped the session would give him more of a natural pitching feel, and allow him to “stop kind of thinking about the calf and just let my mechanics work…during rehab your throwing is very stagnant and robotic.” Physically, Verlander said he is feeling “great,” and he is hopeful of a relatively quick return to the Astros rotation. Since Verlander saw today’s outing as a pseudo-start day from a preparation standpoint, Verlander could potentially be back in action as early as September 16, provided that he doesn’t have any recovery issues from the bullpen session.
- The Rangers will activate Jon Gray from the 15-day injured list on Monday, as interim manager Tony Beasley told reporters (including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) that Gray is slated to start the second game of Texas’ doubleheader against the Marlins. Gray hasn’t pitched since August 1 due to an oblique strain, and he’ll return within the initial 4-6 week recovery timeline. Between this oblique problem and previous IL stints due to a knee sprain and blisters, Gray has only pitched 103 1/3 innings in his first season with Texas, though he has a 3.83 ERA and solid peripherals.
- In other Rangers injury news, the team announced that Spencer Howard will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A today. Howard has pitched only 37 2/3 innings in the majors this season, as he has been both in the minors and battling fingernail and blister problems before his most recent injury, a shoulder impingement. This shoulder issue sidelined Howard about a month ago, and it remains to be seen if he can ramp up enough to make a return to the majors before the season is over. The former top prospect has yet to show much at the MLB level, posting a 7.09 ERA over 111 2/3 career innings with the Phillies and Rangers.
What are the Angels worth with and without Ohtani? That is something all bidders are going to have to take into consideration.
Ohtani is staying until the sale is consummated/finalized it won’t be a problem. New ownership will be free to do as they please with him.
It’s a possible $3 billion transaction…the on-field employees and their salaries is irrelevant…
Brilliant comment !!! You’re right Montana. One player or not makes no difference.
Ohtani (and Trout) have little impact on the valuation assigned to the Angels. This is a long-term buy. MLB teams print money, even the losing ones, and valuations keep escalating rapidly, driven by the scarcity factor. There’s only 30 MLB teams. It’s also quite possible the new owners, perhaps recognizing they’ll need to do a rebuild, might even prefer Ohtani to be gone before they take over, similar to Soto being moved before the Nats sell.
The sale of the Angels is a business transaction, not a baseball transaction.
I’d say Ohtani has some positive effect on value with a Japanese buyer.
You don’t get to be a billionaire by being sentimental.
How does a Japanese player have effect on a Chinese American born in South Africa to Chinese immigrants parents?
Sorry, I was referring to another article I read that discussed an unnamed Japanese buyer group.
I think I saw it too Prov. Feels like everyone is a buyer/bidder right now.
Dude is Chinese, born in South Africa and now an American.
Buying a Baseball team is more about loss than profit-which most of us non-billionaire types have a hard time believing.
South Africa? Hope he didn’t play Sun City. Na na na na na na, na na na. Na. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
He is a South African by birth and Chinese by heritage. Not Japanese.
Trying to turn the lad from South Africa Japanese, turn him Japanese, I don’t think so.
I don’t care if he hails from Timbuktu or the Antarctic circle. As long as o’l Arte goes sayonara…
This one from Forbes talks about a group from Japan being interested.
forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/09/09/the-angels… At this point the most likely buyer is Gregory Milken of March Capital who has already put together a group of investors and has engaged with Arte’s investment banking group that is handling exploring the sale. Soon-Shiong is one of the owners of the two biggest newspapers in SoCal, the LA Times and the San Diego Union Tribune, so he is involved in the area. He would be a good owner I think.
As much about real estate as it is “baseball”
Mostly-correct.
I hope Billy Beane doesn’t join the ownership group. He’ll bring his “Money Ball” philosophy to the Angels and we will be the Athletics South for years.
More like athletics west if they get their way!
Billy is a better choice than Arte Moreno. If Billy had the payroll dollars the Angels had for the last decade he would’ve been much more successful.. Aren’t the Angels still paying for Vernon Wells? Those great days of Salmon, Anderson, Erstad, Percival, Glaus, Kennedy, K-Rod are over.
Do you understand the moneyball philosophy. I find that very few people who criticize it actually have an idea what it is.
Hi Halo. I generally understand it with zero expertise. What I understand more is that it hasn’t resulted in the As being able to close the deal on a WS. They’ve made the playoffs six times in the last 10 years but no WS appearance to show for it. Better than the Angels in the last decade but still.
You understand that sample size of needing 10ish wins (the playoffs) is a terrible mode for evaluation.
bkbkbkbk;
The object is to win. In the playoffs.
The A’s may have broken the Moneyball thing, but it was the Rays and Astros that took it further. Those organizations have had FO people that left and built winning organizations elsewhere. Not so the A’s.
I explained this before and no one got it….
The A’s base everything on cycles that correspond to when the majority of their core players are about to hit free agency…usually over a 2 year period. Then they trade them off for young prospects and start another cycle – in which they’re fortunate to contend in 3 of those 6-7 years.
The object the better organizations aim for is sustainable contention for years because no one can forecast from one year to the next when injuries/players having bad years for their team and strong play by competitors will happen.
The A’s playoff record is abysmal. One would think they would modify an approach that has been going on for 20 years now.
The moneyball philosophy is really simple and because there are so few undervalued stats, it doesn’t work anymore. It is about getting value for your. buck
It use to be about OBP, now it’s not. If defense is cheap, and helps you win games, buy defense. If its speed, buy speed. Since OBP isn’t cheap,it’s no longer part of moneyball.
Halo11Fan;
In addition to how to value a player to get the most for his salary, Moneyball was all about “not making an out”. 1) That meant no attempted stealing. 2) The stats led to defensive shifts to raise the percentage chance of getting a batter out, and helped offensive 2B’s and SS’s that didn’t cover much ground.
With the rules put in for next year those things change:
1) The pitcher is only allowed 2 throws to 1B. A good base stealer draws the throws, and then takes off after 2 throws…or takes a big lead and takes off for 2B before the pitcher throws over twice. Plus the physical bases are a bit larger, giving the base stealer an extra 1/10th or more of a second and more base to hold onto when he slides over it.
2) The shifts go away. Offensive SS’s and 2B’s don’t have help anymore, and are now a liability (perhaps a reason that a guy like Xander Bogaerts will have to move off of SS if he wants that big contract).
The above makes players like Trea Turner and Jorge Mateo – SS’s that have great range and can steal bases – extremely valuable.
But moneyball is about money. How to spend it.
I think not stealing and not bunting and not giving away outs is more of a byproduct. But if the new bags change the game, and the SB is a new undervalued, asset, Beane will take advantage.
ESPN said that 1.5% of stolen base attempts that were outs in 2021 would be safe with the new bags.
I don’t know what they are basing that on, but it sounds about right. The new bag allows an elite runner, guys with sprint speeds of over 30 ft/sec, to reach the bag 0.05 seconds faster. Those are all guys with 1B to 2B times of 3.1 seconds or less.
Remember, it only has an effect on the 2B side. The lead at 1B will be the same.
For a guy with a MLB average sprint speed of around 27 ft/sec that means they are getting there in about 3.3 seconds instead of 3.3 seconds. That little bit should equal some more stolen bases for them too.
Considering how many plays are decided by an inch or less, that seems logical that average to fast guys would get a few more stolen bases. It would mean that over a season 45 more stolen bases out of 2900-3000 attempts are successful.
That would be worth letting your fastest guys take a shot more often.
For guys with 25 ft/sec or slower it won’t make any difference because the average pitchers speed to home (1.35 seconds) plus the pop time and throw of even an average MLB catcher is 3.4 seconds. Getting an extra 1/20th of a second is not going to change anything. .
The other thing that may happen is we see a small number more infield hits by the fastest guys.
To me, the biggest benefit will be less injuries on slides. I hope that leads to more aggressive baserunning, because I love that part of the game.
I don’t think Billy should be of any concern to the Angels. The team has been mismanaged since Arte took over. I’d love to see Trout in the postseason but that’s never going to happen unless he’s traded. Trade Ohtani too. Build your farm system up, go back to being Anaheim/California Angels.
Rod Carew and Bobby Grich are in agreement.
Remember the parking lot attendant? It was only a few years ago the Dodgers were the laughingstock of the baseball world. And the team still do not have a parking lot of their own!
Sam The Man, the way you put it, which I think is ultimately just stating the facts, I feel like it is going to be the Wild West in baseball next year. Are we in for a whole new ball game???
You mean winning most years? You would have to ask an Angels fan how they feel about that, but I would be ecstatic if Beane was the Padres POBO.
We would be turning backflips every year if the Angels were in the playoffs more often than not. Beane would have to sell his ownership interest in the A’s to become part of a group buying the Angels. Beane has a long track record of getting his teams to the playoffs and with $100 million plus more to spend every year, he could have the Angels on the right track in just a few years.
The evidence is really piling up.
Anybody not named Disney is better than Arte Moreno. No even Disney would be better. Who ever it is-I hope he lets a real GM make real decisions and hopefully spend a bit over the cap
Jah Disney’s would be cool. Good job w Mighty Ducks, even tho they had to can Emilio. Maybe they can get Estevez bra Charlie to run baseball ops. Tho w Disney kinda creepy and cannibalistic for Goofy to have Pluto as a pet, eh?
Uh, I was being sarcastic. Disney owned the Angels from 1997 for a few years.
Theo, wait a minute….You saying Bombay doesn’t doesn’t coach the Ducks anymore?!?! Where have I been…
Carlos Estevez 4 Ducks Coach!
Disney ownership never interfered with the Angels Baseball Ops.
As I just wrote under a slam against Cleveland’s ownership – that’s all baseball people can ask for……and most Baseball Ops departments don’t have that luxury.
These are some of the least-coherent comments by ill-informed, non-sentient buffons to ever grace MLBTR.
Most of the one’s I’m reading are understandable.
Than again, I use the Mute button and now have well over 100 names being blocked. It makes reading these comments workable.
Feel free to block me if you’d like.