The Angels announced that the Moreno family is ending the exploratory process to sell the team and will continue ownership throughout the 2023 season and beyond.
“During this process, it became clear that we have unfinished business and feel we can make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience,” owner Arte Moreno says in a statement released by the club. “This offseason we committed to a franchise record player payroll and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series Championship back to our fans. We are excited about this next chapter of Angels Baseball. We are grateful to Galatioto Sports Partners for their outstanding efforts throughout the process that allowed us to meet with a number of highly qualified individuals and groups who expressed strong interest in the Club. However, as discussions advanced and began to crystallize, we realized our hearts remain with the Angels, and we are not ready to part ways with the fans, players and our employees.”
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also released a statement on the matter, as relayed by Sam Blum of The Athletic. “Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno’s love of the game is most important to him. I am very pleased that the Moreno Family has decided to continue owning the team.”
Moreno, now 76, announced in August that he would explore a sale of the team. There weren’t many details of the sales process reported in the interim, though Manfred did say in December that the club was hoping to have the sale completed by Opening Day. It appears that Moreno either didn’t find an offer to his liking or had a change of heart and will keep hold of the team for the foreseeable future.
He purchased the team from the Walt Disney Company for $184MM in April of 2003. The Angels were reigning champions at that time, having won the 2002 World Series. They qualified for the postseason a few times in the next few years but have since gone into a dry spell. They have made the playoffs just once since 2009, getting swept by the Royals in the 2014 ALDS and not making it back since. That’s come despite having some superstar players on the roster in those years, include current Angels Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. The club’s payroll has regularly been in the top 10 in the league in Moreno’s tenure but he’s garnered a reputation as being one of the owners more likely to meddle in baseball decisions, which has made him a divisive figure among the Angels’ fans.
This offseason, despite the potential sale hanging over the club, they have been quite active in pursuing upgrades. They traded for Gio Urshela and Hunter Renfroe while signing free agents Brandon Drury, Brett Phillips, Tyler Anderson and Carlos Estévez. That’s bumped the club’s payroll up to $206MM, per Roster Resource, with a competitive balance tax calculation of $220MM. That payroll would indeed be a franchise record as Moreno stated, with Cot’s Baseball Contracts having their previous high as last year’s $189MM figure. Whether that’s enough for the club to break its postseason drought remains to be seen. They will be looking to chase the Astros, who have dominated the division for years and just won the World Series. The young and resurgent Mariners just grabbed a Wild Card spot last year and the Rangers have been extremely aggressive in pursuing upgrades over the past couple of years.
The continuation of the Moreno regime will lead to various questions that will need to be resolved in the years and months to come. From on-field perspective, the biggest unknown is the future of Ohtani. The unprecedented two-way superstar is entering his final year of club control before he’s slated to reach free agency. Many have been speculating about whether a new owner would be motivated to give Ohtani a mega deal to stay an Angel or would prefer to start fresh by clearing house and beginning a rebuild. Now those questions will have to be directed towards Moreno and whether they can find common ground on a deal or if Ohtani is determined to spend the next part of his career elsewhere.
Off the field, there will be questions about the issues that perhaps led to Moreno pursuing a sale in the first place. A company created by Moreno was attempting to purchase the 150-acre Angel Stadium site from the city of Anaheim with a goal of using the land to develop commercial space, housing, restaurants and more. A tentative agreement was reached at a $320MM price point but the potential sale drew heavy criticism from many in the area and a federal investigation was launched into alleged corruption, violations of state laws, and insider information being shared as part of the deal. Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu was personally cited in the investigation and ultimately resigned. Anaheim City Council later voted against the deal in May of 2022. The club’s lease on the stadium runs through the end of the 2029 season with a club option to extend that lease through 2038.
There will also be league-wide questions to be answered, as the Angels were one of two teams exploring sales this winter. The other is the Nationals, though that situation appears to be mired in TV rights issues and nowhere near a resolution. For any groups interested in getting into the MLB ownership game, those two paths that appeared open a few months ago now appear to be closed or perhaps untenable. The league has expressed interest in expanding from 30 to 32 teams though Manfred has repeatedly said that he would like each of the A’s and Rays to resolve their respective stadium situations before expansion will be on the table.
This legit made me laugh out loud. Sorry Angels fans. You were sooooo close…..
Thank you!
Signed every fan of an AL West team
hopefully, Joe Lacob pivots now and buys the Oakland A’s instead.
Would be nice having an Owner who cares about Winning and would be willing to keep the A’s best players around.. He would really change the Culture around like he’s done with the Golden State Warriors.
Not sure if he would be allowed to Own a team in both the MLB as well as the NBA though. Is there some Rule against that?
Yeah the white sox owner owns the bulls as well
Billionaires bend rules to their favor. If there is one and he wants it and other owners are fine with it consider it done.
Doesn’t the Sox owner own the Bulls, too?
Used to for sure. Not sure how much percentage he had has.
Reinsdorf owns the Bulls, Henry owns the Penguins.
Why would he move a team that is in the 2nd largest market in the US? How would he move a team that has a lease through 2029?
Stan Kroenke owns the Rams and the Arsenal soccer club. At one time before Dr. Jerry Buss, Jack Kent Cooke owned the Lakers and Washington Redskins.
Allen’s own the Seahawks and Trailblazers. There was also talk of him buying into the Sounders I think that stopped when the cancer came back. Then the part that was being sold was split with Wilson owning some and a few others. I think McClemore got a piece too not sure though.
@josephf: Where did the Warriors move to? They’re still in the bay area. They certainly didn’t relocate to a different market.
The Warriors are in the same TV market as they were in Oakland.
@josephf: Understandable considering that I have never been there, isn’t it?
I am and I would rather go to SF than Oakland. I guess it matters to a about 10-30 folks living within 5 miles of the stadium but for most it’s not that big of a deal and the tv and radio stays the same. I would prefer the A’s move to San Jose or Dublin than to Las Vegas or Nashville. I’m a Giants fan but go to A’s games at times when the Giants are out of town or I feel like a afternoon or Morning game. And I will go to either San Jose or Dublin as likely as I would Oakland.
jjd002 – Not sure about EVERY fan of an AL West TEAM.
Interesting. Esp if he makes a massive extension offer to Shohei.
I’m sorry for your loss Angels fans
When I read the headline only one thing went through my head: that music that plays when someone loses on the Price is Right
Bye Ohtani.
Curious how Angels fans feel about it. Yes he meddles with baseball operations a lot but he does spend money even when the team doesnt feel like a contender. Hoping the Angels make the playoffs in 2023 so we can finally see Ohtani and Trout play together on a big stage
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. We are so hosed.
god damnit, today was already rough and now its worse.
The rest of the Moreno family must be bummed out. Daddy was about to have billions of dollars in cash to give out; instead he has at best a .500 MLB team that probably loses money.
Are you kidding? The team has over $500 million in revenue. He is raking in profits hand over fist.
What he does have is a $300 million bill for stadium improvements that if he sells must be paid immediately if the team is sold. If he stays, he can stretch out not paying it until the lease is up in 2029.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
lol
Great way to start the week. Yay…
Well, from some Angel fans prespectives, that’s unfortunate.
Please go away arte
Sell the team… in THIS economy???!!! (Bourgeois laughter)
he could have gotten a palette of eggs.
Maybe this is a sign he’s going to change his name to Arte MorenOhtani and give Shohei $600M
What? Now that’s odd.
It doesn’t matter, the Angels will still be more or less irrelevant.
What won’t change is that this is the Year of the Mariner, at least by my lunar calendar, which hasn’t been wrong yet.
My condolences to Angels fans.
The most Monday post possible
Great news as I don’t like change and he tries to make the right moves. The way to go is to sell minority interests to investors and keep majority control. Hire professionals to rework the Real Estate Deal with some public infrastructure and affordable housing benefits to the Community.
I was wondering what that distant groaning sound I heard outside was.
Gotta win more if you want to up the price.
As the sage Homer Simpson once said, “D’OH!”
Once? By my wild estimate, he is well into 4 digits on that quote.
I guess that’s no happy trails.
Being an Angels fan is a living hell. That said Arte has never ever met a star player walk. I’d prefer a new owner over signing Ohtani, that’s how awful we think he is.
F
I knew this would happen. Arte is way too stubborn.
Basically, no one wanted to buy the Angels at the price he wanted with Ohtani on his way out is how I take it.
the bids haven’t submitted yet
I’m neutral with Arte. Pros, He spends money and wants to win. He doesn’t bring in known cheaters and brings in players that he believes have good character.
Cons…. He thinks he knows more about what it takes to win than baseball people. In that aspect, he’s a fan, like us, but he has power. Like most of us, he thinks he knows how to run a team, but doesn’t.
I simply think the Angels don’t know how to build a bullpen or know that a good pen can make or break a team. I’m not saying I know how to build a pen, but I do know it can make or break a team.
Building a pen is easy. Either spend a lot of money or find good pitching developers and pick up a ton of dfa guys that weaker teams couldn’t teach control. It’s really hard if you aren’t in that stretch where you have that right staff or can’t won’t spend over 200 million.
Building a pen is a lot easier than building an infield or outfield, or pitching staff. But you have to try. The Angels don’t even try.
I been trying to help them but they won’t listen to me. I told them to sign Tyler Anderson for 3 straight years. The year I wouldn’t recommend him is the year they signed him. Not the worst move and I like what they done this year so might be hope for them moving forward.
I’m not crazy about Anderson. I expect a four ERA. Sandoval and Suarez are great against LH batters, but have real struggles against RH batters. That’s has to turn around. But still, I’ve got them as #3 and #5 starters.
I think Detmers is going to be very good.
Halo11 – One thing people tend to forget about Anderson is that most of the time before the Dodgers was in Colorado. and a soft contact in the air kind of pitcher in that thin air.
Let’s hope Anderson’s ERA is closer to 3 than 4.
@YourDreamGM Angels literally spent more money than anyone on their bullpen last year. They spent almost all their available budget on the bullpen. It didn’t change Angel’s fortune. They signed some of the best available. A lot of if could be contributed to the struggles of Iglesias. The Angels had to go to a closer by committee and struggled. Iglesias was great again once he was in Atlanta.
The Angels have successfully put together a bullpen in the minor leagues, which is something they haven’t successful at in about 15 years, so at least there is cause for optimism.
As for Angerson, it is better they signed him after the season with Dodgers. They have a track record of “fixing” pitchers. The Angels on the other hand do not. If you think Angerson would had the same season he had last year if he signed with the Angels, then you are mistaken.
@GoogleMe When you spend big money you still have to spend it wisely. Maybe they did and it just didn’t work out. I always thought of the Angels as being one of the worst teams at player evaluation. I see a lot of relievers get big money and I would rather sign 2 or 3 cheaper guys.
It is hard to put it on player evaluation when then have a couple of the best players in the game. They arguably have the best OF in the game. and a vastly underrated rotation. There are plenty of reasons the Angels have been bad.
1. Big FA signings that have turned out horribly, Pujols, Hamilton, Rendon, Gary Matthews, etc.
2. Couple #1 with cheaping out on everything else including filling out the rest of the roster, scouting departments, and minor leagues. It wasn’t until Perry got there when he implemented a pre-game meal at all levels of the minor leagues.
3. Complete neglect of pitching through free agency and the draft. You can attribute that directly back to Arte, whom once said he has trouble paying a pitcher $20M when he only plays every 5th day.. Weaver and Syndergaard are the only only ones to make just barely 20M per year for the Angels as a pitcher.
4. Angels abandoned the international market in large part because of the Baldoquin debacle.
The above are not really applicable to the past 2 seasons. There has been plenty of steps in the right direction in recent years, including drafting pitchers, new international scouting, and development management. Things were looking up until today when Arte announced he is staying.
All those are factors but so is player evaluation. It’s incredible they have 2 of the best players on the same team. But I still never thought of them as a smart organization. They made some of the worst signings in history and player evaluation is critical in signing free agents. Other teams have tons of good and great players. I see the Braves Dodgers Astros Cardinals and am like where do these guys keep coming from. An assembly line of talent. I am not a Angels fan and don’t have anything against them. Just a neutral opinion. My favorite teams are Atl Cle Hou Pit Tam. If LA starts operating as efficient as those teams I hope I notice and add them to my list.
They do seem to be significantly improved with the new gm.
GoogleMe – I think part what you saw was the Dodgers coaching staff, but a lot I think goes to scouting too. A steady four something ERA starter looks a lot better when you see he is a soft contact type pitcher with lots of those in the air. Put him in LA or Anaheim you should have improvement.
They tried last yea4. They didn’t try I 2021 or 2023. And the spent more on Thor than their pen.
Simply not true.
Iglesias, 4 years / 58M
Loup 2 years / 17M
Tepera 2 years / 14M
Bradley 1 year / 3.75M
Syndergaard 1 year / 21M
I stand corrected. Last year they tried. This year they haven’t. So last year Perry tried and failed.
Does that make you feel more or less comfortable? Serious question.
Six months ago it made me feel more comfortable. Since he scrapped trying, I’m less comfortable.
No, I am not exactly comfortable and would like to add at least another arm. I would like Chafin, but with Moreno in place, I understand why they might not add another bullpen arm.
I probably feel a little more hopeful then most. I know the projections have them at the bottom of the barrel, but projections are rarely correct especially when it comes to bullpen.
I think a key part early will be if Estevez can be an effective closer. This will allow Tepera and Loup to have more defined roles. They seemed to struggle when their role kept changing day to day. Estevez is a huge unknown since he never has been a closer, but he did put up some decent numbers playing in Colorado and in the NL West last year. I don’t like pinning the hopes on an unknown, but it is probably the only hope.
Zach Weiss has a 9.3 inch break on his slider, which is way above average. He has a 47.5% whiff rate on his slider, which is outstanding. His issue is walks, same with Quijada. If either of them finds control, they can have breakout seasons.
Herget is the one that didnt seem to care where he pitched from day to day. He put up great numbers last year and has great movement. Hopefully, he can repeat what he did last year.
The one that concerns me the most is Barria. He goes from good year to bad year, back to good. Right now, he is coming of a good year.
If the offense scores runs with the added pieces, it will take a ton of pressure off the bullpen. Most people don’t understand how much easier it is to pitch without the stress or pressure that if I give up one run, we lose. A better offense will go a long way to making a better bullpen.
They signed a ton of depth and have of a ton of arm itching to make the big leagues, Bachman, Bard, Ingram, Torres, and Murphy can all be back end bullpen arms by the end of the year.
Nice Google, I to think this BP will be solid. The BP arms are there, and more coming. As I said before, this teams projected 26 opening day team is as good as any. That said, they’ll still need good health, even with there added roster depth. Simply because there 40 man isn’t deep enough as like a handful of the top teams.
With all the Simpson’s references and your comment I’m not sure if the fans are saying if Arte is a Dunning-Kroger personality type of Ralph Wiggums?
What a fn joke
Arte longa, vita brevis.
Poor poor Angels fans and Trout and luckily for Ohtani he’ll be out the door soon.
Trout just wanted that money. He is doing just fine.
DreamGM is right. Trout never cared about winning. That’s why he re-signed in Anaheim.
I don’t know how he feels about winning. Just it’s not as important as money. I am extremely competitive and would have done the same. That was a great extension contract. I would also be more expressive about my desire to win. I’m probably more suited for nba nfl.
His only “positive impact on the team” is to sell to the highest bidder. He has handcuffed the team for years and cannot be trusted to run an organization.
F ####### CCCC KKKKKK!!!!!!!!! So long Ohtani. So long contending.
Nooooo Arte why laughingstock of baseball
These are the three top stories listed right now under the “Recent” heading:
“Arte Moreno No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Angels”
“Krall: Reds Unlikely To Make Further Roster Additions”
“Sorting Through The Athletics’ Rotation Options”
It’s like today is Bad Owners Day.
Lol that’s funny, I noticed that trend today too.
As Bob Nutting holds up his hands in “peace” symbols and tells the Pirates faithful: “I am not a crook.”
Hi Clipper. A rare Nixon reference that probably only you and I are old enough to remember. Cheers.
Haha! I hope not! I hope you’re doing well too, Prov. I was actually seeking you out in this thread earlier to see what your thoughts are in this 180 from Moreno and what it means for the Halos’ future.
Here is the comment I made about this:
“I’ve said all along that I won’t believe the team is for sale until the team is sold. Moreno has a history of pulling the plug on deals. This is typical for Moreno. I’m disappointed but I’m not at all surprised.”
I don’t think we’ve done enough this winter to make up enough ground for a play off run. We still need bullpen help, a legit starting shortstop, and a starting catcher…all key pieces. I predict that we will be hovering around .500 by the ASB and Ohtani will be traded by the deadline. Perhaps we can make him an offer in free agency if his new team doesn’t lock him up after a trade. But Moreno has a 20 year track record of not doing enough to put a winning team together. I think this means we lose Ohtani.
Yeah, Prov, I agree. Although I can’t see Ohtani being traded by the deadline – not because it’s illogical because it makes perfect sense; but more so because it’s so hard for me to envision the Halos (any team) would trade him. It just seems so….surreal(?). But, I certainly trust your informed perspective more than my baseless feeling. If I were the Angels FO I would trade him too if I thought he was moving on. That trade would obviously yield an excellent return, perhaps the best return seen in a trade for a half-season rental.
You left out the Pirates.
I don’t write the headlines or the reports, Winslow.
LOLAngels
Me standing outside the Big A tonight like that woman at the Trump inauguration… “Noooooooooooooo!!!!”
I agree, UNFINISHED BUSINESS
I am glad he is staying
Go Arte
I’m going to jump off the top of the Big A!
F N Artie.
With his ego he must believe the Big A is named after him!
Big A$$
Angels fans getting swerved.
He probably wanted Dodgers money and there were no takers. Once again realizing that the Angels will always be the Clippers of MLB.
The clippers have a championship? Had no idea!
Bringing up a championship from 20 years ago during the steroids era lol.
You made the comp to a team that hasn’t ever sniffed a championship. Fine by me. Whatever.
But can Arte pitch?
Ohtanimania;
Maybe you need to look at their pitching depth.
You don’t know anything about the Angels. Everyone who looks at this team thinks their starting pitching has a chance to be pretty good.
Do you realize the Angels have three starters who had a sub three ERA last year?
Yes, just joking about pitching as that is always the most common thing said on Angels non pitching transactions. In terms of the negotations falling apart, I would think the pending lawsuit involving Skaggs death decreased the value of the Angels a considerable amount. I’ve been concerned about the potential monetary damages here and hope it is settled soon.
I think they are pretty free from Skaggs. Moreno is about as straight laced as they come. They don’t even bring in known PED users. He 100 percent didn’t know, or couldn’t know, there was a dealer in the woodshed.
Hamilton. Vaughn.
Doesn’t really matter if Moreno personally knew that Kay was providing players with drugs, because the Skaggs family is not suing Moreno. They are suing the Angels organization.
100% is a number I would not use. Moreno is very hands on with baseball operations and the Kay court case showed that others in the organization were at least aware of what was happening.
Unless they find emails or memos in discovery, its doubtful that proving Moreno had personal knowledge of what was going on with Kay and other players will be possible. That would still not absolve the Angels of responsibility.
I would use 100%. Hamilton was a born again Christian and a recovering addict. Two different things. And Vaughn? I’m lost. Elaborate please.
Mo Vaughn was pre-Arte
Condolences to Angels fans.
“During this process it became clear that no one actually wanted to purchase this dumpster fire for the exorbitant amount we were trying to squeeze out of this sale” is what Moreno meant to say
What he said: “Our hearts remains with the Angels.”
What he means: “We didn’t get offered enough money.”
Pretty much.
Or does it mean that Moreno won’t be charged as part of the government corruption investigation?
I doubt that’s a factor. I suspect the much larger one is uncertainty about the status of the lease with the city, which of course was only made worse by the shifty dealings behind the scenes. The unknown future of the stadium probably lowered the selling price Moreno hoped to get. Probably he thinks he can get that situation squared away over the next couple of years and sell out for more. Follow the money.
I can’t even put into words how badly this sucks.
Too bad for Angels fans close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
A Frank Robinson quote.
I feel for ya, Angels fans.
Get ready for a budget cut
Arte Moreno: I’m selling the team, SIKE!!
Just when I thought I was out he drags us back in. What a dick. Not welcome. Was looking forward to changes. Now Trent lodge and halo honks, calling all Angels, minasian, gubizas keys to the game will all be back. I’m done.
Skip- Get your hands on spell check and do us all a favor.
Wow! I feel for you Angel’s fans. As a Mets fan I am now experiencing the other side of bad ownership and its the best.
Hopefully Moreno wakes up and decides to hire good people to run the show, then let said people actually run the show or, he realizes next offseason he made a huge mistake (as usual) and decides to sell again.
Cohens_Wallet;
You haven’t been watching….
Arte DID hire good people to run the show..and they’re doing a great job!.
@Samuel
I must have missed that part, that’s my bad.
I really do hope Arte sells, the Angels organization is way too valuable to be kept in chains the way it has for 2 decades now.
The one smart move Arte did is to fire inEppler and now look where he is 🙁
@Cano
That’s the problems, under bad ownership everyone looks bad. In reality the head is always in charge. It’s the ol (the fish stinks from the head) phrase.
Perhaps one of the potential Angels buyers will give Jerry Reinsdorf a ring. A guy can hope, right?
Why why why why. JUST LEAVE!
You can’t let a potential MVP and CY Young winner walk and be considered a serious baseball owner. Shoehei Ohtani can write a blank check and somebody will cash it. I’m expecting Cohen to do exactly that, tell Shoehei to write an amount and he’s gonna take it and say done. You don’t mess around with franchise altering players and think you have prospects ready to take their place. The Angels can’t lose Trout or Ohtani but if one must go because of finances you trade Trout. If Juan Soto can be dealt, so can Trout.
@kingbum
Soto was traded before he signed a long term contract. Trout already has signed his, and has a no trade clause. Plus with the money he is now owed, there is very little surplus value. You wouldn’t like how little you would get back.
Sty, first thing. The Angels will never trade Trout, so who cares about his no trade clause.
And 2nd, that said thou meaningless. Trouts trade value is still huge. His guaranteed years and money owed, is a lot less than the deals that are now being handed out. Once again, it really doesn’t matter thou, he’s not going anywhere.
Enter Mutombo..no,NO,no! Lol
Didn’t get offered his price, huh?
@suffer
That’s my thought as well. When Cohen bought the Mets the sale should have gone through the year before but the Wilpons backed out, they ended up selling the following year to Cohen anyway. Hopefully the same happens with the Angels.
The nightmare continues.
Sorry Rod Carew you’re still not welcome by Angel ownership.
Baha Baha. Sucks to be an Angel fan. Almost as bad as McCourt.
ALMOST
The budget cuts to places other successful teams find necessary to pay for the team payroll will continue unabated. Hooray!
If the name stays LA, they will never win.
I feel the same way about the LA misnomer. Either move the team to LA or change the name to the Anaheim Angels.
How do you feel about the New Jersey Giants, New Jersey Jets, Irvine Cowboys and Arlington Rangers?
angels are the original l.a. team until the dodgers hightailed from n.y.
aragon – Orange County used to be part of LA County but if he wants the name recognition. why not just go back to California Angels? California is known all over the world and has kind of a good fun relaxed vibe..
What bothers me is that the city gave the team the naming rights to the stadium in exchange for naming themselves the Anaheim Angels. I think the team has been very dishonest.
Hell yeah! I agree, Go back to the California Angels.
Hahaha can’t say I’m surprised!
Horrible news. Can’t get out of the way of his own ego. This will go as well as the last 15 or so years. Mediocre at best with 2 of the top players in the game.
Mets fans are Lucky
Were not that lucky we got the guy Arte fired, inEppler Arte’s one smart move!!
Cano- Why do you always put inEppler?
For those putting Ohtani in a Dodger jersey already, not so fast.
James Midway;
Other than me you’re the one fan on here that gets it.
Hardly. I don’t see the Dodgers going after him at all.
Not surprised by this decision based on his “baseball decisions”. Horrible, what a egomaniac. Worst owner on the West Coast, including Oakland.
I’m good with Artie! It’s hard to put a winner on the field when you have three gigantic contracts totaling 60% of your payroll. Flipping to Rendon when Garret Cole snubbed us put the team in a bad spot financially going forward! He will resign Ohtani and pay the luxury tax for the last three years on Rendon’s contract. We are one starter and reliever away from making the playoffs this year!
Artie is a fan like the rest of us and needs to allow his GM to run all aspects of the baseball team!
No one wanted to pay market price for the team apparently.
Put me in the camp of I’m fine with Moreno as an owner going forward … with two conditions.
1. He stays out of baseball operations decisions
2. He keeps payroll in line with the market / revenue (which being at or above the luxury tax level feels right).
My biggest gripes come from him making GM decisions. He’s be fine besides that and being a little stingy on the spending.
“During this process, it became clear that we have unfinished business….”
Yeah, the lawsuit by the Skaggs family against you, that’s his “unfinished business” and most likely the reason why he couldn’t come to an agreement to sell the team.
Its not the only pending lawsuit. The city filed in November asking for him to make the $300 million in improvements to the ballpark stipulated in the new lease agreement.
If Arte wanted the new owners to take responsibility for those liabilities, he would not find many willing buyers.
This is very disappointing, but I guess disappointment is what Arte is good at
Double down, he’ll yes!
Lol. I laughed. And I don’t laugh a lot.
Arte (auto-correct keeps converting that to Rate) Moreno just cannot keep from making baseball blunders.
He’s very successful and buying the team was financial genius. But he can’t help forevermore tripping over his baseball ding ding. Feel for Angel fans who briefly had hope.
I don’t laugh that much but I laughed
This is yet another example of why baseball needs a strong commissioner. Arte not selling the team isn’t just bad for the Angels but bad for baseball overall. A strong commissioner would make sure that it happened.
And yes, I realize that a strong commissioner would also have had the A’s and Rays stadium situations resolved long ago so that MLB could expand to 32 teams. And yes, I realize that the owners are too insecure to have a strong commissioner who might actually push back on them once in a while.
The Commissioner works for the 30 owners. He is an employee serving at their pleasure, and can be removed at their will. A strong Commissioner above the owners is not possible.
And for whom would this “strong commissioner” work?
If the other 29 team owners wanted Moreno to sell the team it would get sold. If they aren’t pushing for it, then it’s because their financial interests aren’t being served by whatever offers Moreno was getting. It’s all about the money, and when it isn’t about the money, it’s still all about the money.
So now we know how it works.
What RobM said.
Arte Moreno narrowly edges Carlos Correa for the newly established 2023 award named after George Santos aka Anthony Devolder aka Kitara Ravache
usatoday.com/story/sports/2022/05/29/angels-future…
Artie Moreno no longer looking for Grecian Formula.
I bought this lottery ticket for nothing?!?
Maybe he can sell the team to Saudi Arabia
I’m grateful for his efforts. Hopefully he’ll put a team together that will shine. Soon we’ll be the best team.
Let’s go Angels !!
So they gave Ohtani a 25 million raise for nothing? There would be some value for goodwill to a new owner, but there is no point if they don’t get him. Even then, he would like be a Pujols/Upton/Hamilton/Rendon… type overpay. The list goes on and on.
So the offers were lower than they expected.
Wow bring Doug Rader back
Did you think he was going to sign for an “unstupid” amount of money?
Moreno also has many revenue streams with Japanese companies who advertise on both radio and TV because of the large Japanese audience and our Asian fanbase. Arte is a cheap owner. He allows his minor leaguers to live in squalid conditions and they live beneath the poverty line.
But the players accepted to such an offer to play baseball. Aren’t they adults, capable of making decisions for themselves?
All teams do not just Arte.
RIP Angels
The best news this winter. A Rangers fan.
Arte wants every last penny for an asset. You will have to take Showtime and the Angels franchise from his cold, dead hands. He ain’t trading/selling either.
What a tragedy. Thoughts and prayers to Angels fans.
IMO, either his lawyers have told him he’s not going to be prosecuted, or he’s found a way to ‘influence’ the newly elected members of the Anaheim City Council or he isn’t getting the price he wants.
He would be an idiot (would be???) to make a new deal with Anaheim. Red flags would fly everywhere…and I don’t mean Angel red. And everybody…California Justice Dept, FBI, CIA,. Interpol…should jump on this to see why it smells…and it will
I’ve said all along that I won’t believe the team is for sale until the team is sold. Moreno has a history of pulling the plug on deals. This is typical for Moreno. I’m disappointed but I’m not at all surprised.
It’s a mixed bag for me, if he spends like this season, that Xtra 30/40m and at the tax line, I’m ok with him. That little extra money for depth goes along way. I believe this season you’ll see why… Playoffs! Playoffs!
Also just a hunch, added on to the above. Arte just might have a belief he can get the Ohtani extension done. He doesn’t want a new owner to get that credit…haha. if so, he better be willing to go over the tax line for 3/4 years to stay contending.
The city wept.
::returns life savings to the bank::
Some of my friends, for instance, think these Morenos are annoying meddlers. Other of my friends think these Morenos are greedy fools. How are we going to come to a consensus? You ought to hear the arguments around my house; “they’re annoying, they’re meddlers, they’re greedy, they’re fools!” Brothers, sisters, come together! Can’t we once just join hands and think of them as greedy annoying meddling fools? -With all due respect to Bill Hicks
Ok, so this being the case, are they gonna rethink the Phil Nevin extension? Time to start the office pool for the date he’ll be canned this season
RIP playoff Mike Trout. We hardly knew ye.
My sincere condolences to Angels fans. May your playoff dreams and hopes for keeping Ohtani RIP.
I called this right off the bat! I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy to get rid of the greedy little nerd. Looks like another year where I won’t spend a dime that could end up in his pocket.
I like this team. To keep it in perspective, Perry has done just about as much as he possibly could of for depth, and also keep it under the tax line. The Starting 26 is as good as any in BB. But even with the extra depth, it’s not like the top 5/6 teams in the league. Those teams 40 man rosters are a lot deeper. Stay healthy my friends, stranger things have happened.
Keep in mind, they did the right thing by spending a little more and staying under the cap. That is if your on board with extending Ohtani. Why go over before u even try to extend him.
I wonder if Arte consulted his peers (other owners, business owners, etc.) and got some advice that gave him some perspective. He’s given the Angels a franchise record $220 million dollar payroll that would’ve been almost $30 million over the luxury tax just a couple years ago. So he’s got a lot more room to make those middle of the roster moves the Angels should’ve been making years ago. And the reports I’m seeing tell me the Halos could still go over anyway. So I see something different here. Gotta let it play out. Because the main thing is giving Shohei Ohtani a reason to stay.
If he was giving Ohtani a reason to stay he would have brought in a top SS and an Ace starter or he would have sold the team, As it was he allowed Minassian to make a handful of short term pickups that make the team marginally better.
What a mess. Here’s my 2 cents Werth. As long as Phil Nevin is the manager and Rendon has a roster spot this team is a .500 team at best. I don’t have personal feelings towards or against Moreno. Here’s hoping that he locks up Ohtani for 10 years and then sells the team.
Next time spend the 2 cents on spelling. It will be WORTH it.
Yeah good luck with that.
Better break out that Rally Monkey. Gonna need somethin’.
Well. Welcome to the Doyers Ohtani!
as long as arte owns the angels ohtani won’t be wearing doyers jersey.
I think as long as arte owns the team he will be a doyer. I understand arte appreciates a star and knows ohtani has $ worth internationally but The guy already has shown signs he wants to sell, (although it seems was to be a show for the trouble he got the mayor of anaheim into with whole real estate scam) that aside he doesn’t want to spend $ to build the whole team. Will it be easier to sell with the price tag it will take to keep ohtani and trout+rendon contract? He could be flipped at seasons end and all the money the doyers have for him will be an easy move come free agency. But come on, when was the last time an Angel star has been traded away at the deadline?? Last star traded maybe Edmonds, but that was off season. Go angels!
Josh Hamilton coming back for his next extension
Good thinking. Sell them after a playoff appearance. LOL
I like what the Angels have done to build the team the last 2 years. I think they might surprise some in the AL West. They have a decent team.
Cant even complete a sale.
Worst. Managed. Franchise. In. Sports.
“Mr. Ciepto? It’s the Pittsburgh Pirates on Line 1 , and the Houston Texans are still holding on line 2.”
As a baseball fan this is so upsetting. I feel like it should be for all fans of the game, not just Angel fans. This could happen to you too one day and there are no benchmarks or guidelines to protect you.
Whale oil beef hooked
Just imho, but the Angels should not think they are built around Ohtani. If/when they win, it will be because of the rotation. I’d offer Ohtani $500M/10, but if he says no, I’d move on, and dump everyone that has an expiring contract. Give Adell 600 ABs to prove/disprove himself. Promote some kids. Finish 4th.
extending ohtani is the most unwise thing. with trout, rendon and ohtani will take up $120 mil plus. should have traded him earlier this offseason.
TRADE OHTANI! The Dodgers (or someone else) will give them a franchise altering haul of MLB ready prospects for him which sets them up to compete this year and in the future. Bobby Miller, Vargas, Cartaya, Stone, etal… The list goes on. The Dodgers are the most obvious suitor but there are others. If you can get two good pitchers and a gaggle of future all star position players for one star pitcher/star hitter combo why wouldnt you? You still have your homegrown hero in Trout and plug your holes long-term. Playoff potential for the next 5-10 years or just this year because he ain’t staying with the Angels if he reaches free agency and SD and the Dodgers are going to try to outbid each other for him and drive up the price. Cash in on him or he’ll cash in on himself next offseason and they’ll get nothing.
Trading Ohtani to the Dodgers is the last thing the Angels would. do.That’s like splitting up with a hot GF that lives in the same apartment complex and watching her date other guys. Leykis 101 say’s that a no no.
That sucks, the guy spends money on the team, but he doesn’t spend it wisely. Plus he intervenes way too much in the baseball side of things. I’m sorry Angel fans I hope you do eventually get a better owner.
Trout to Yankees locked
dumdum.
Cashman does not have the prospects to seal the deal.
Be Careful what you’re smoking isn’ laced with feytenal
Made the playoffs a couple times? they won the Division 6 times in between 03-14. this more than a couple times
Imagine having two of the top superstars in the game and being top 10 in payroll in baseball and failing to make the playoffs year after year after year….. must be miserable being an Angels fan.
Not when you live in SoCal. It’s always Sunny
If you talked to me a week ago I would have said it seemed like it would never stop raining. We got absolutely pounded for a few weeks there.
Won’t complain much, because we needed it badly. Now lets hope it stays cool so thee snowpack stays on the mountains until spring.
It has been raining since like December.
Saved a lot of water by turning off the sprinklers
Playoffs? PLAYOFFS! Are you kidding me, PLAYOFFS? They’ve had 7 straight losing seasons. Looking for a Sportsbook giving odds on probability of #8. I might just want in on some of that action, baby.
Who cares if you have a .500 season and still miss to reach the postseason. If anything that just makes it worse. The Angels need to hire competent people to run their baseball department. Seems like they are ages behind in player development and love to throw money away at aging veterans.
Ballys.
Really wanted Vince McMahon to buy them!
Thanks Arte we knew u wouldn’t sell the ego is way too big …. I knew Perry couldn’t pull the trigger Arte had the gun the whole time and just like Christmas u get all your hopes and dreams up just to figure out Santa ain’t coming is it really because I live in an apartment in Westminster pay 3,300/mo and have no chimney…. Come on man spend the money!!! U are out of time and u can’t take all that cash with u…. It’s not too late I seen an old Santa costume at goodwill off state college … do the right thing Arte … get in the costume and don’t forget your wallet again
Spent last 2 weeks, and probably the next 50+ weeks, working on an AI project for a healthcare data and tech company and the founder gave me an interesting perspective on the Angels sale while we sat at Bill Botts Field eating lunch and watching some Little Leaguers last week.
1st a time frame.
In late-May, the Anaheim city council voted to kill the deal to allow Moreno to buy the stadium and land around it. Moreno’s SRB Management had a $3.5 billion master plan for the area surrounding the stadium and that vote put the kibosh on all of that. SRB made tens of millions in investments in the area in anticipation of that deal being approved. If the team is sold, what would happen with that investment and would it be part of the sale of the team?
In August Moreno announced he was exploring the sale of the team.
In November, an Orange County judge ruled that the lawsuit against the Angels by the family of Tyler Skaggs to go forward. The case will be heard beginning in Oct 2023 an could take a year or more to litigate. It has the potential of being a 9 figure settlement or much higher if it goes to a jury.
In November, the city of Anaheim announced they were considering litigation to force Moreno to pay for an estimated $260-$300 million in deferred maintenance and scheduled upgrades to the stadium prior to any sale of the team. The Angels’ lease requires the team to pay the “sole expense” of ballpark maintenance and upgrades. An interesting line in the lease states the team must maintain the stadium “at least equal to first class professional baseball stadiums, such as, on the date hereof, Kansas City and Dodger stadiums.” Since the lease was signed for Anaheim Stadium. the Dodgers have spent more than $350 million on renovations. In January, they voted to go forward with a study on just how much money Moreno will have to pay for deferred maintenance and upgrades before any sale of the team.
The bottom line is that with that much potential financial liability on Moreno and the Angels, the founder of the company my company is doing work for said that he would not have gone forward with the purchase of the team until that litigation and the stadium issues have been finalized.
Moreno will eventually sell the Angels and get his $2.5 billion and maybe a little more, but none of that will happen until all the uncertainty about the Angels financial situation is cleared up. The best guess of the billionaire I was talking about this situation with was 2025.
said that he would not have gone forward with the purchase of the team until that litigation and the stadium issues have been finalized.
============================
You can always buy your way out of the uncertainty, but the money would have to come out of Moreno’s take.
A prospective buyer might easily see $100M of improvements having a positive return, another $100M being deferred maintenance, and another $100M being a shakedown by Anaheim.
The lawsuit my the Skagg family might be covered by liability insurance. One of the companies I worked for took a lower price in order to have no environmental studies done, and covered 3 years of product liability.
It’s a bit like buying a house where the home inspector uncovers some defects. You can have the current owner remedy the defects, or ask them to reduce the house price, and then you take the risk of paying for the remedy.
But if there is a motivated buyer and a motivated owner, you can contract away the uncertainties.
The point was that he was not willing to move forward with all the financial uncertainty and Moreno was not willing to eat that money upfront to make a sale happen now.
The city is saying that the number is $260-300 million and they are spending over a million for a study to find out exactly what the real number is.. The Angels said it was $130 million in 2013 during the negotiations to buy the stadium and nothing has been done since 2013. I can see it easily being double that amount by now.
From comments by city council members, it seems the city is more.concerned about Moreno selling without doing the agreed upon work to bring it up to today’s standards than with shaking down the team. The prospective buyer I had those conversations with agreed with you that the cost for bringing the stadium up to today’s standards should be borne by Moreno..
Not sure liability insurance covers crimes by employees that result in the death of another employee. Mine doesn’t. You may be right about that. It was a huge concern in the mind of the business founder I am referencing. He said the Skaggs litigation could last years and cost both hundreds of millions and be a continuing PR hit for the team.
The investments made by SRB in area near the stadium and agreements they made being transferred to the new ownership were also a sticking point in his mind.
My net worth is $2.475 billion short of what it would take to buy a $2.5 billion MLB team, so I can only go off what others that have that kind of net worth to inform me about what they think is important.
Pads Fans
#1 Okay what improvements did they make around the stadium ? Ive haven’t seen any. And why would they spend that kind of money if the they didn’t know for certain the city council would vote in favor of the Angels?
#2 The Dodgers own Dodger stadium. OF course they’re going to spend money enhancing it.It’s cheaper than building a new ballpark. McCourt owns the parking lot.
That’s the point Winslow. None have been made since 2013 when the Angels estimated the stadium needed $130 million in upgrades and deferred maintenance. The city is saying it will cost $260-300 million to do that today.
It doesn’t matter who owns Dodgers Stadium. What matters is the contract says that the Angels have to keep the Angels Stadium up to the standards of Dodger Stadium. Whether it will cost the same amount of money to bring Angels Stadium up to the Dodger’s Stadium level is for someone else to say.
Pads- In your original statement you said “SRB made tens of millions of investments in the area” When you say “area” are you talking about spending money on infrastructure? Or stadium improvements? And like I asked before what improvements did they they make in the area?
Arte has spent millions on stadium improvements since he bought the Angels. And they have estimated it’s going to $300M to bring Angel Stadium up to standards.
Dude, he is talking about the area around the ballpark, not money spent on the stadium itself.
SRB is a real estate investment company Arte put together to develop the area around the ballpark with hotels and restaurants and retail and housing after he bought it. Try to keep up.
Arte has spent $54 million on ballpark maintenance total since he bought the team in 2002. The big renovation happened in 1997-1998, long before he bought it. and Disney spent that money.
Pads Fans and outinleftfield are the same guy Winslow. And he doesn’t have a $25m net worth.
SRB made investments in property surrounding the stadium in order to develop the surrounding area.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you did. And we’re also sure you sat next to A. J. Preller and Scott Boras at some restaurant and sat next to Dan Lozano on a plane. *wink*
Hey I got a link on the in’s and hefty on the out’s this that real circus act real talk that chatter box overheard u hear …. DUDE “Just TRUST ME on This One” ….. lol
Worst possible news!!
I won’t spend a cent on an Arte owned team.
Native-you probably never did to begin with.
Arte, John Carpino has to go. Bring in new blood knowledgable with actual baseball experience and INTEREST. Like a POBO.
That would be a great 1st decision in your renewed tenure.
If you find the right guy it would take so much off your shoulders and allow the team to grow again. This needs to happen.
You’ve established a reputation, bringing someone in willingly will unfortunately be difficult.
Arte is the constant here. He thinks he’s smart financially to cut corners in scouting, facilities, coaching staff, etc which guarantees the Angels organization will always be second rate. He builds showy structures on sub-standard foundations.
My take is that there are a lot of buyers out there.
Normally, it is a “seller’s market” for a pro sports team in the 2nd largest city and TV market in the country.
However, the Buyers may be attempting to dictate the Sale Terms to Moreno
( Are buyers playing “hard ball” with Moreno and the Angels.?!
BECAUSE of the Uncertainty with various legal issues with: the Angels, Moreno, the City of Anaheim, Ohtani etc…
And, are the Buyers trying to make Moreno “indemnify them” against any losses relating to the various legal issues with the team and/City/County/MLB etc…?!
Rather than make a “bad deal” that exposes Moreno and his family to future legal liabilities and “cash calls:,
it is likely that Moreno is passing on the deals presently on the table.
When Moreno, the Angels, the City, the County get their legal issues resolved,
then I can see Moreno selling the team quickly.
The Angels and Moreno have very likely vetted some of the bidders already.
It could lead to a faster deal in a 1-3 years when things calm down on the business and financial sides of the team.
In a “Sellers Market” for limited MLB teams, both Moreno (Angels)
and the Nats ownership have run into a few roadblocks to selling their teams.
The Nats have a major, long, contract dispute with the Orioles regarding TV rights.
Moreno and Angels have many, obvious legal issues:
Stadium, development land, lawsuits, liabilities and financial exposure.
Buyers may want Moreno to “indemnify” (make them whole financially)
regarding those obvious, potential, legal liabilities.
And, potential legal liabilities could affect the sale price and net returns to Moreno.
Moreno is either “all in” or “all out” regarding continued ownership and/or sale of the team.
Moreno and his family do not want to be “on the hook” for future legal liabilities
and potential “cash calls”…or to lower their asking price substantially etc..
I am thinking that Moreno will still sell the Angels when he can clear up some of the legal issues involving the team:
land, stadium deal in Anaheim or somewhere else in LA area, lawsuits, Ohtani issues etc..
It is not as bad as the situation in Oakland and Tampa,
but some Angels legal issues may need to be worked out or
just find a new buyer who will overpay for this “trophy/hobby for billionaires…owning an MLB team in the 2nd largest media market in the country.
is Steve Ballmer a baseball fan?!
Posted this earlier, but somehow it did not get picked up by this site.