Angels owner Arte Moreno surprised the baseball world in January when he announced that his family was ending its exploratory steps towards selling the franchise. Five months earlier, Moreno announced that he was looking into the possibility of selling the Angels, and it seemed as though the sale process was going rather smoothly before Moreno somewhat suddenly reversed course.
“When you got right down to it, I didn’t want to go,” Moreno told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci as part of a wide-ranging interview. “I just had the whole personal talk with myself. You know, you have a lot of time to think about it. I’m walking these [bidders] around the stadium. We’re on the field, looking around the stadium and I’m thinking, ’How many guys ever get a chance to do this?’ “
Moreno said he received three bids from MLB-vetted potential buyers, and all of those bids were at least $2.62 billion in price. This would have been a new record high for a Major League franchise, topping the $2.42 billion that Steve Cohen spent to buy the Mets in 2020. However, Moreno said the finances didn’t outweigh his desire to keep the team, and he related an anecdote about how even one of the potential buyers said “I see in your eyes that you don’t look like you’re ready to sell” when Moreno and this unnamed buyer were touring Angel Stadium. If a sale had gone through, Moreno said he was planning to retain a minority share of the Angels, “five to ten percent is what I was thinking.”
As to his initial decision to consider a sale, Moreno didn’t specifically state a reason, other than “it was more circumstantial than it was a change of heart” about his love for baseball. In May 2022, the Anaheim City Council voted against a proposal to sell 150 acres of land around Angel Stadium to Moreno’s management company, and the deal became shrouded in scandal when the FBI launched an investigation into former Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu on allegations of corruption and insider information related to the sale.
With the assumption of a sale hanging over the Angels as the offseason began, the club still had a very active winter, spending over $78MM in free agent signings. $37MM of that money went onto the 2023 books, the Angels are on pace for a notable payroll increase — after finishing the 2022 season with roughly $180MM in spending, Los Angeles is projected to spend roughly $212.2MM on player salaries in 2023.
While the team’s winter may have been lacking in true headline signings, Moreno said that he had interest in trying to land another superstar free agent in Trea Turner. However, with GM Perry Minasian noting the Angels’ several needs beyond just the shortstop position, Moreno said the offseason became “about the distribution of money. Is it one player who makes a splash? Or is it, ‘Hey, we can spend this money on two or three players.’ ”
To this end, Moreno disagrees with criticism that the Angels aren’t willing to invest in their payroll, noting that the club is regularly among the top 10 payrolls in the league. “I can’t tell you we’ve always spent the money right, but we spent money,” Moreno said. “So, if anybody that criticizes me that I’m not committed to winning, well, I am committed to winning.”
As Moreno himself noted, the allocation of that money has often backfired on the Angels, contributing to the club’s run of five consecutive losing seasons and only one postseason appearance in the last 13 seasons. But, while spending isn’t itself an issue, Anaheim fans have often argued that Moreno hasn’t spent enough, since the team has only once exceeded the luxury tax threshold since the owner bought the team in 2003. Roster Resource estimates that the Angels’ current Competitive Balance Tax number is roughly $226.75MM, which is under the $233MM threshold.
The CBT appears to be a matter of principle for Moreno, to the point that he was one of four owners who voted against raising the tax thresholds in the most recent set of collective bargaining agreement negotiations. Moreno doesn’t begrudge teams like the Mets or Dodgers for their big spending, saying “I like the fact that people want to win. But I just would like everybody to have a chance. Like if somebody came to my house [for a card game] and everybody is putting a thousand dollars in and one guy puts in a hundred, I mean, how many hands can he play? It’s just no fun. So, if you want to spend four hundred [million], then you should be taxed. It is taxed, but to me it’s just not enough. Clearly, it’s not enough.”
Such financial matters loom large given that Shohei Ohtani will be a free agent following the 2023 season, and there is an expectation that the two-way star will command a record-setting contract (perhaps even surpassing $500MM). Moreno told Jon Heyman of the New York Post last month that he hoped to keep Ohtani in an Angels uniform, but money aside, Moreno said to both Heyman and Verducci that Anaheim’s chances of keeping Ohtani could hinge on whether or not the team can be competitive.
Moreno personally vetoed the idea of trading Ohtani at last year’s trade deadline, and he told Verducci that “we had five real offers for” the superstar. But, beyond the team’s desire to retain Ohtani beyond 2023, Moreno felt there was more of a bigger-picture aspect to hanging onto such a unique player. “People ask me, ’Shouldn’t you get something?’ But we get to see him every day. That’s not nothing. These people get to come and watch the best players. They’re going to tell their grandkids, ’I saw Ohtani play.’ ”
The owner’s trade veto seems to still be in effect for now, as Moreno stated that “I will say it on the record, we will not trade Ohtani while we are contending for a playoff spot.” As to whether or not the Angels would entertain offers if they were out of contention, Moreno didn’t consider the possibility, saying “we expect to be a playoff contender. Everything in our plans putting this team together is about getting to the playoffs. So, I’m not going to sit here and wonder what happens in an outcome we’re not planning for. That would be like a fighter going into the ring and thinking, ’What if I lose?’ If he does that, he will lose.”
At least he admits the luxury tax isn’t working.
Moreno’s ethos is sound. His payroll structure, his desire to win, his respect for his fans and their experience and his loyalty to his iconic players is commendable. There have been problems within his organization which need to be addressed in the area of player scouting, development and drafting as well as a stadium deal that need to be reworked..
MLB does have a huge problem with many Owners not spending enough and not trying to win. Moreno doesn’t fit into this group even though the results haven’t been successful of late.
Lack of spending isn’t really a problem. MLB is designed/structured so the large geographic markets can buy its way into the postseason…..to appeal to corporate sponsors for advertising/TV deals, etc. SDiego is a recent outlier. Players make out huge to have that drive salaries.
On the flip side, it is rational for many teams to be frugal and stockpile money to spend later until they can really contend for at least a few year period (eg. Baltimore). It is going to be on youth extensions rather than paying retail for FA’s post-prime years like the union wants. Well run businesses don’t spend for the sake of spending or cower to obnoxious union sycophants that call them cheap. Oakland is an outlier posterboy version there as far as spend avoidance-but it’s attendance even when club is good is underwhelming.
The severely flawed economic system in baseball is working. Yankees to use an example have only missed playoffs a few times in the last 30yrs. It is not b/c they are so much smarter or superior. It is financial resources based on location/revenue. It’s not like nfl or other leagues where the competitive landscape/cap system is pretty level.
San Diego has one pro team in the 8th largest media area. They are not an outlier.
scarton12,san diego has the number 27th spot in media markets in the us.im not sure where you got number 8?
They are not the 8th largest media market, they are the 26th largest media market.
8th largest population, which doesn’t translate to media market size
He, like many others, think population size, and media market size, are one in the same.
The Padres are in the 27th largest media market. They are in the 8th largest metro area by population. They have received revenue sharing and extra draft picks because they are a small market team.
What the Padres have done is show that spending money and winning drives revenue.
It’s good to hear that Moreno still respects his fans and their game experience. I went to three games at the new Rangers ballpark in 2021, and I thought the fan experience there sucked. I didn’t go to any games last year, and I don’t plan to go to any this year. Maybe our guys could take some lessons from Moreno.
Etex, you went to 3 games during a season limited by COVID and you are judging game experience on that?
You need to go back.
The criticism of Moreno is fair. Most Angel fans have cited the neglect of spending on pitching, lack of player development, lack of spending to fill out a roster, lack of scouting, and player development. Much of this has changed in the past couple years.
The Angels have spent on pitching the past couple of season. Last off season they signed Thor, Lorenzen, Loup, Tepera, and Bradley. They followed up this year with Anderson, Estevez and Moore.
The Angels have put new scouts both domestically and internationally. The Angels farm system is underrated. They have finally been more aggressive recently with the international signings. Their minor league system has a lot of players that will make a contribution. The Albert Pujols hire may also strengthen the Angels international connection.
The Angels have made recent hires and changes to their developmental system. They have hired Bill Hezel, former director at Driveline. The pitchers have raved about the program had put them on. Detmers has seen a tick up in velocity. They have also hired Trent Woodward. Woodward was the former private batting instructor for Taylor Ward. Ward credits Woodward with changing his approach at the plate and revamped his swing. Woodward worked with Brett Phillips this year. Phillips did talk him up but has yet to experience similar results to Ward. If he can transform anyone like he did with Ward, I’d take it.
The Angels have not signed a huge free agent since Rendon. I can understand the Pujols signing. The Angels had a pretty solid roster and Pujols was one of the best hitter in the game at the time. The Gary Matthews signing, Josh Hamilton signing, and Vernon Wells trade all had red flags and question marks attached to them. As the article addressed, the Angels have certainly spread the money around rather than putting all the eggs in a single basket this year.
Googleme- Thank you for a well said response. As a long time Angels fan since early 70’s there’s been alot of ups and downs, Original Angels owner Gene Autry spent the money too. And that goes back to the early 60’s not just when free agency started in 77. While some the Moreno bashing on this site has been warranted,it’s gotten out of hand. I’m sure fans of the A’s and Pirates would love a owner that’s $pend$. Arte truly does care and wants to win. At least this time he listened to Perry and distributed the money instead of allocating it on one player. The farm system is starting to produce some quality arms. I think we will have a solid year in 2023. Go Halos.
Woodward was Ward’s roommate, not his private batting instructor. Woodward, who had just retired from minor league ball in 2017 due to a hip injury, showed Ward what the Astros were using in terms of tech, analytics, and practice back in the 2017-2018 offseason.
He introduced ward to Blast Motion and K-Vest equipment that helps capture your swing. He showed him training practices that the Astros used to help players repeat their best swings.
Here is a good article on K-vest from Driveline. The tech originated in golf training drivelinebaseball.com/2020/12/what-is-k-vest/
Phillips father-in-law, Trey Hillman, is coach in the Angels system and they signed Phillips this offseason because Hillman had told them about his work with Woodward after Phillips was cut by the Rays in August, His swing is simpler and hopefully he can maintain it through the season. The Angels need a good 4th OF for depth instead of having to run out Adell and Moniak when injuries hit.
Unlike Hezel, who was hired as a coach full time with the big league squad, Woodward is a consultant for the Angels. He kept his day job.
The biggest problem with the Angels is they lost six starters to carreer, or near career ending injuries in about 18 months. They went from the best record in baseball to zero starters in a blink of an eye.
This is the first time in years this team has the starters. Now it doesn’t have the pen, and I don’t blame Arte for that.
7 straight losing seasons. A complete refusal to sign FA pitchers to long term deals. Forcing bad deal after bad deal on GMs. Gutting the scouting, player development, and analytics staffs. Those are all the owner. Angels fans can and should blame Moreno.
MLB does have a huge problem with many Owners not spending enough and not trying to win. Moreno doesn’t fit into this group even though the results haven’t been successful of late.
============================
They haven’t won a playoff game in 13 years, In the same period, 15 different teams have gone to the WS.
JoeBrady,
A tale of 2 decades lol. Decade 2000’s a WS Championship and perennial postseason appearances but since then zilch. It just hasn’t been working.
Maybe thats the problem though. What worked in the 2000’s (throwing money at free agents to buy competitiveness) doesn’t work in todays player development/analytics centric game
Rsox,
Having watched Angels baseball through much of the 2000’s they used to develop gamers with winning attitudes. Jered Weaver, Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, Mike Napoli, Krod to name the standouts in addition to signing Hall of Famer Vlad. Trout and Ohtani are the 2 huge names of the past decade but they need more talent.
His playoff hopes seem delusional.
VegasSD- care to elaborate?
The Angels finished 14 games out of the WC last season. The additions they made, like Renfroe and Urshela, are only improving the team slightly. Anderson is essentially replacing Syndergaard
The Angels only hope of contending is players that were already on the team staying healthy enough to play 150+ games. Trout, Rendon, Ward, Rengifo, Fletcher, and Walsh have to play every day instead of missing a combined 366 games on the IL like they did in 2022.
The starting pitching staff has to repeat a 2022 that was devoid of major injuries, too.
The problem in the Angel’s organization is Moreno.
The Angels efforts have not been successful for more than a decade and Moreno is the reason.
He needs to not be a part of baseball decisions at all, imo. Hire a great GM, give them the keys and the money and stay out of personnel decisions completely
Well. signing Mike Trout to an extension was a marketing decision. Signing Ohtani to an extension is a marketing decision.
He may be too involved, but I think saying he shouldn’t have any involvement is a bridge too far.
Good rule of thumb, if you always take one side over another, you likely need to rethink your position.
The CBT clearly has caused several teams over the last few years to limit their player payroll.
It certainly isn’t the luxury tax that’s preventing the Reds from spending more. It’s the owner being cheap.
This tells me you didnt read the article before commenting.
Like many large market apologists, you want to attack the clubs not spending instead of seeing the whole picture.
As far as the Reds. truth is they have never been snle to go over a 130 million payroll max in good years. They don’t have the large local TV deal to pay their salaries like the Yankees do.
That’s quite presumptuous because I did read the article before commenting. An example:
“So, if you want to spend four hundred [million], then you should be taxed. It is taxed, but to me it’s just not enough. Clearly, it’s not enough.”
This quote stood out to me. First, Moreno says if you want to spend $400M, go for it. But then he indicates that actually shouldn’t happen because owners who do so should be taxed so heavily they won’t. So, is he okay with a team spending $400M or not?
I’m not a large-market apologist. I’m a Cardinals fan, a mid-market team that has historically done a great job of marketing and brings in over 3 million fans consistently season after season.
Maybe if the Reds did a better job of marketing the team instead of saying, “Where else are you gonna go?” they could bring in the revenues that would allow them to exceed a $130M payroll. Anyone who is satisfied with what they’ve done the last 2-3 years would have to be considered a Castellini apologist.
Many teams choose profits over wins when they could spend more but choose not to. The Mets and Padres are showing there’s lots of money in the game, and they’re making an all-out effort to make their teams as strong as possible. If the Reds, Cardinals, Yankees, Dodgers, etc. are upset by that, that’s 28 teams’ issue, not the Mets’ and Padres’.
Anyone on this site knows I criticize Castellini and his kid GM as much as anyone, especially this offseason. But that is a separate issue than the revenue disparity.
I just think it’s good that at least one large market owner gets it. Baseball will be more successful when all are successful. The NFL proves that.
Baseball has had more parity than the NFL and NBA the last 2-3 decades. It only took the Bengals, what, 25 years to put together a successful team in that league with all the parity?
Talk about cheap owners…Mike Brown took the cake. It was only when Marvin Lewis got him to stop being amateur GM that the organization started to change. He was obviously NOT his father as much as he thought he was.
This.
Since the inception of the Wild Card every MLB team has made the playoffs at least twice. Every AL team has played in at least one ALCS and every NL except the Pirates (sorry Pirates fans) have played in at least one NLCS and 22 different teams have made it to at least one World Series.
Not something the other sports can claim
They expanded the playoffs to make sure more than the eight big spenders made the playoffs so not sure that is a lot for MLB to hang their hat on. Also how far in the playoffs did each go? For many, not far.
The NFL and NBA have had more playoff teams than baseball for the last few decades.
well, that’s baseball and the randomness of small sample sizes. The point is every team, even Nutting’s Pirates, has had a better chance to make the playoffs under MLB’s system than the rest of these other so-called parity sports. The advent of analytics has only boosted that argument. Now, whether the Pirates or Rockies have the people smart enough to take advantage of that is a whole another discussion.
Baseball’s expanded playoffs has only been in effect for 2 years. All of those teams made playoff appearances prior to that. I was referring to the inception of the Wild Card in 1994.
29 different teams haved played in the LCS and 22 different teams have played in the World Series so thats pretty far for the majority.
True. Meaning it was harder for teams to make the playoffs in Baseball than in the other 3 sports and in those sports on several occasions teams with losing records have made the playoffs because somebody has to
Yes, he spent $, but that doesn’t mean he’s committed to winning. For years, the Angels desperately needed pitching and he refused to sign a FA to a multi- year contract. So, we were left with back end types or reclamation projects. All while having two of the best players in baseball! He’s also stayed out of the international market. This is why we haven’t won. This is not showing a commitment to winning.
One pitcher would not have made a difference, and the Angels would likely be further behind the eight ball trying to pay off a starter who is now in effective.
I did not suggest they should have signed only one pitcher, but 2 or 3 mid to top of the rotation SPs certainly would have made a difference. Are you saying that Arte was right to neglect the starting rotation all these years?
It’s very hard to sign two or three pitchers and the likely would have missed on two.
How is “very hard” to sign two pitchers? Texas has several in the last two offseasons- including deGrom.
How’s degrom going to do three years from now? Heck, how about one year from now. It’s hard to be successful building a staff through free agency.
You may forget but they were in on many stud free agent pitchers, they just chose to play for other teams. Whether it was due to a lack of Angel success over the past several years or other reasons, they were in on at least a few. I remember they went hard after Cole, but he wanted to be a Yankee.
The only top starting pitcher the Angels have been rumored to be in on was Cole.
Cole said they talked to him, but the Angels never made him an offer.
As I recall the Angels offered money to quality pitchers bit they chose to sign else where.
The only FA they made a real offer to was Gerrit Cole. Beyond that, they were averse to offering more than 1 year to any FA
The Angels aren’t really rumored on anyone, ever. They strike.
Where they romored on Turner? Rendon? They are not part of the rumor mill.
They didn’t sign Turner. They were rumored to be in on Cole but never even made him an offer according to Scott Boras. Once Cole signed with the Yankees, the Angels signed Rendon the next day. After the signing, Boras, who also represents Rendon, said the Angels had been in discussions with Boras for weeks about Rendon.
Signing Ohtani through 20223 might be the Halos’ only chance at keeping him.
Shohei is so good, he’ll still be playing then haha
I like an AAV of a penny!
Ohtani should and will note Moreno’s self-imposed cap since it will impact the Angels ability to win.
The Yankees have that same self imposed cap.
The Yankees have that same self imposed cap.
===========================
True.
Except for the fact that they are $56,000,000 over the self-imposed cap.
I am sure in the future they will be Judged on that.
Why do you always repost other comments into your own?
So you know who he is responding too. Some people say the person’s name first. He quotes them. Same result,
Since the CBT was agreed on, no team has been over it in more seasons than the Yankees.
Minasian should have spent more on the pen. It’s his pen. and his future should depend on the results.
The Angeks have some good arms coming from the farm for the pen.
They do, but there best arm, Joyce, has had two Tommy John surgeries. But regardless, it’s his pen and he should be held accountable if it fails. He should also be extended if it doesn’t.
I am only aware Ben Joyce has had only TJ surgery. What is your source for him having two. Seem unlikely that he would have 2 already.
I could have misheard it. I listen to many fantasy podcasts preparing for my drafts, I can’t find any hard evidence he’s had two surgeries.
Until I heard that, I didn’t even know he had even one TJ surgery.
Obviously, I like being wrong on such things.
He has had one TJ surgery. In October 2020. Rodriguez and Canning are also likely to be part of that pen at some point this season.
I only see one TJ, but I also see he had a stress fracture in his elbow prior. Now I understand it is two major injuries, just not 2 TJs.
Halo11fan, you complain about the pen constantly. Give it a chance. Perry helped build those Atlanta pens and deserves a chance. And it’s already different than last year including possible regression to the means and more experience.
The biggest reason this team won the first part of this century was the pen. The reason it won the World Series was the pen. The biggest separator between the Ms and the Angels is the pen.
The arms are not there. They haven’t been there in years. If the pen is good, extend Perry. If it’s bad. Fire him. It’s his pen.
@Halo Fan I wouldn’t say it is fair to call it his pen just yet. Billy Eppler left the pen in a horrible state. The top 5 bullpen when Eppler left were Ty Buttrey, Mike Mayers, Felix Pena, Noe Ramirez, and Hoby Milner. So, zero viable major league arms. The farm system also had zero viable bullpen arms. I don’t know how it is possible to have no bullpen arms with zero prospects, but somehow after 5 years of Eppler that is where they were.
In his first year, he was able to get Iglesias for Noe Remirez. To try to build a bullpen via free agency is incredibly difficult. . You don’t always get the player you want. You don’t know how a player is going to perform from year to year. You can try to sign players coming off of good years or players coming off bad years. He signed players coming of good years, which is what most would have done. Loup, Tepera, Matt Moore, and Estevez all were coming off of good years when they signed. all are capable of putting up good seasons as they have done so recently. . You can say just sign players coming off bad years, well that doesn’t work either.
I am sure Perry realizes it best to have a bullpen that comes up together and to supplement it with a piece or two, not build a whole bullpen via free agency. He is the only GM in a long time to address the pen via free agency or draft. You would think someone like you that is so focused on the pen would be in his corner since he is the only that hasn’t completely ignored the pen in a long time.
Eppler did a horrible job with the pen and I was equally critical of him.
I say it’s his pen because they are all his guys. I mean every one . If this works out, he gets credit. If it doesn’t, he should take the hits. He’s had opportunities to bring in guys. He has spent some money, and these are the arms he’s chosen.
It’s an interesting pen, but there isn’t a lot of talent out there.
Eh, maybe, maybe not. I tend to agree but these guys are human. And that was a traumatic experience even though there’s no evidence of wrong-doing.
My biggest issue with Arte is he needs to stay out of all affairs centered on players. Stay in his lane with marketing, fan experience, and budget. Then enjoy the ride to winning.
I agree with you on the most part. Under Bill Stoneman, he stayed out. Under Tony Riggins, other Toni Hunter, stayed out. Riggins in ability to sign FA, is what lead him to being replaced. Then came the guy, that’s now in Seattle. When he had, the opportunity to trade for Grienki, Arte said, if you trade for him, you have a blank check to resign him. He offered Grienki a 5 year deal. Grienki said, add another year, you have a deal. The GM wouldn’t give it to him. Even though Arte gave him the ok to do so. Not every signing or non signing, is all on Arte
He didn’t stay out under Stoneman. They had a pitching staff, a bullpen and Arte got Vlad.
Maybe not all but too many. The bad outweighs to good. Time to go.
He needs to let baseball people make the vast majority of the decisions. But again, I go back to 2015. The Angels had the best record in baseball in 2014. Then they lost six or seven starters to career, or near career ending injuries and they are just now recovering.
This team’s pen will make or break this team and that’s all Minasian.
Who were those pitchers they lost? I only see Wilson. 2016 would have been his final year anyway.
His meddling was the reason Reagins quit.
Wow, and I thought a 13 year deal was too much for players in recent years. Moreno wants Ohtani for 18,200 years?
Don’t give Preller any ideas…
Moreno’s spending IS the problem—both what he opts to spend and then when he tightens the wallet. He likes to make the splashes…Pujols, Hamilton, Rendon, etc., but then when those moves obviously fail (which is/was obvious, from the day they were signed), he looks at his top ten payroll, tucks his wallet deeply into his pocket, and then waits until those horrendous deals are off the books. And as soon as they are, he does it again. When Rendon’s deal is finally up, and the Angels have a clear payroll, he’ll clog it up again with some headline-grabbing move that’ll will fall on its face.
Why didn’t you bring up Vlad and Colon and Texeria? The later was the draft pick they used to get Trout.
It’s not all good with Moreno or all bad.
I didn’t say it was “all bad” or “all good” with Moreno. Have the Angels made good moves under Moreno? Sure. But I wouldn’t classify not resigning a FA and then lucking out with drafting one of the greatest players of all time as something he did well.
Vlad was a great signing, not so much on Colon. Pitched a couple of years but probably wasn’t as good as you remember.
My point with Moreno stands…the majority of the moves he endorses are for the headlines, not baseball, and when they don’t work out, he just waits them out and does it again.
I think he makes too many moves with marketing in mind. Some good, most bad.
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, his are Vlad and Shohei.
Shohei was luck. Any team in baseball would have signed him, even if just for marketing. The fact that he’s a superstar on both sides of the game only adds to it.
Shohei is 100% Eppler. The Angels did not even have a pacific rim scout at the time.
Moreno reminds me a bit of Ted Turner before he turned the Braves operation to baseball people. Turner ok’d some horrific trades and free agent signings in the ‘80s, even though his FO was terrific at player development. Once McGuirk, Schuerholz, and Cox took charge, the team made that fantastic run.
Moreno reminds me a bit of Ted Turner before he turned the Braves operation over to baseball people. Turner ok’d some horrific trades and free agent signings in the ‘80s, even though his FO was terrific at player development. Once McGuirk, Schuerholz, and Cox took charge, the team made that fantastic run.
Moreno is a weird duck. He has a self imposed morality filter. He doesn’t bring in cheaters, he believes he should win staying under the cap, and he imposes standards on people he deals with. But somehow it’s ok to grease the campaign of a mayor who is going to do him a favor.
Weird duck.
So that is why he signed Hamilton and his team is being sued for being responsible for providing drugs to one of their own and his clubhouse guy was the only person suspended by MLB for cheating with sticky stuff.
Oh and he was caught up in an FBI investigating of corruption by the mayor of Anaheim for his dealings to sell land to the Angels.
Sounds like he is a squeeky clean guy.
Hamilton turned his life around. As far as being sued. So what. Eric Kay got 22 years. Claiming the Angels “should” have know is a stretch and no one is claiming they did know.
By the way.. Quote “”Fentanyl does not discriminate, you know. What happened to Tyler can happen to anyone,” Carli Skaggs said. And to that I have to say… DUH!!!!
Fentanyl is a pretty big issue in the U.S. today… or haven’t you noticed?
Employees actions while working are the responsibility of the owner of the business. The Angels did know. That much is public record in the Kay court case
Show me where people say they knew. And my company is not liable if I sell drugs.
If you sell drugs at work, your company is legally liable.
What place of work was that? He died in a hotel room in Texas.
And you want business to have cameras in bathroom stalls and locker rooms?
What kind of overreach do you want employers to have. Anyway… good luck with that.
The folks in the uber markets need to tailor their spending. LAA has two of the top players in the league, if not their era. This is like Philly last year. If you are going to spend $220-230M+ to be ‘”okay”, then spend another $20M, pay another $4M in taxes.
If you are going to spend $220M+ to be a .500 team, you should be able to spend $180M to be a .500 team.
Is Arte Moreno resembling more and more Al Davis (Raiders)?
Its never been a question of willingness to spend for me. It’s always been about the quality of the spending, which 7 to 8 times out of 10 for Moreno, the quality in his spending on the team just hasn’t been there.
I wonder how much he wanted.
Another member of The Club publicly rallying against the newest member. I’m guessing there is some serious ownership approval regret in the clubhouse.
Key takeaways from SI article:
1. He never intended to sell the team the way he first said. He wanted to keep 10%. I don’t know how many new sports owners want the old one still there.
2. He’s still taking credit about a beer discount from 20 years ago which is a lifetime ago
3. He thinks it’s “unfair” that new young Turk owners can outspend him out of the water and are willing to spend on luxury tax. That is “waiting to win”
4. He speaks in metaphors that are irrelevant. The boxing metaphor is stupid. The metaphor is all boxers have a plan until they get hit in the mouth. The Angels never plan on getting hit in the mouth.
This was already too sketchy for me to bother reading the original article. This isn’t like me changing my mind on selling my 1982 Grich card. Once you put a $2B business on the block, you’d better have thought this through.
He either thought he’d get paid more, or was using the threat of a sale to pressure the city into changing their mind.
I tend to agree. I appreciate these men operate in completely different stratosphere’s to me, but the whole “I cooled off” explanation seems a bit odd for something of that scale. I need Samson to take me through it.
The boxing metaphor was spot on. The punch in the mouth was losing Rendon, Trout, Walsh and Fletcher. And having Marsh and Adell basically stink. The Angels had a plan, and the plan stunk.
Just because you didn’t get the metaphor doesn’t mean it was a bad one.
With none of those offers ever being made public I’m a little skeptical. If Arte balked at $2.6 billion he was either foolishly holding out for $3 billion or those offers were never made. The wanting to keep 10% even after a record payment for the team was probably also a deal breaker.
Arte claims “unfinished business” is ultimately why he choose to stay but i think it was not enough money offered
Diff sport but the Milwaukee Bucks were recently valued at 3.5 billion and the Suns at 4. So the Angels I don’t think price was the issue. It has to be him sticking around or he was looking for a crazy offer or some other (probably) sneaky reason.
“unfinished business” is clearing the team from all the pending lawsuits.
Those offers were not for 2.6B NET!
Potential buyers were subtracting a huge amount to offset the liability of lawsuits the Angels are facing.(or demanding and “indemnification clause” against future liabilities).Moreno may still sell in the future when he cleans up the legal actions
and the “Net Profits” from the sale of the Angels become much clearer.
Interesting read. I can’t remember the last time Arte talked this much to the public, if ever. What I found most intriguing was the part about potentially going after Trea Turner and Perry’s response. You would think you wouldn’t have to tell the owner of a professional sports team with a net worth upwards of $4 billion the benefits of diversification smh
As a 50 year baseball fan, the sport is more of an entertainment product then real competition. The game was fine just the way it was way back in 1973, some things should never change. Have a good day.
What an awful organization.
Every single team should be required to open up their books every year to see the truth about their finances. Every team that gets revenue sharing money should be required to put that money into the on field product.
@MattyD 2 Yup, open books should be a condition of baseball’s antitrust exemption and certainly a condition of ANY public assistance in the building of a stadium.
He has some good quotes in here. I hope he can turn the team around and this sale exploration serves as a wake up call to reinvigorate his desire to win.
I still get a kick out of the Angels trolling Billy Eppler after firing him. His attempts to build pitching were so notoriously unsuccessful that in the draft following his firing, the Angels drafted pitching, only pitching, nothing but pitching. Not one position player.
It was hilarious to watch, live, as pro scouts and FO guys began giggling and smirking around round 8 as word went around wrt what the new Angels FO might be up to.
It was brilliant, but cold. I mean, what, by round 12 they couldn’t have picked a catcher or SS or CFer? They really did it to him.
Eppler gets the last laugh. While the Angels are mired in mediocrity, his new team is spending to win.
I don’t want to look it up. But isn’t Eppler responsible for most of this core today?
Perry is responsible for the pen. Eppler is responsible for most everything else.
The analogy of a $1000 limit poker game was interesting. Apparently, he is hinting at a hard salary cap or a CBT rate that is too prohibitive for even big market teams to exceed.
I’ve been in private poker games where a guy with deep pockets would occasionally try to buy the pot by raising/scaring everyone else out before the last card. In card games, this tactic works very well. In baseball, you still have play to the last out. Unlike poker, money can buy the best players or “highest cards” but good judgement is needed to fill out the rest of your hand beyond a couple of high cards like Trout and Shohei. Filling straights and flushes can win the big pots. You need complementary pieces to fill the holes.
But I digress. This is MLB baseball, not some home poker game. There will be a salary cap when Hell freezes over.
This guy is full of it, he stayed as owner just to make more money when he sells it in a couple years.
You have already lost Moreno. In fact it’s all teams you have owned have done for more than a decade.
You think you have won because you padded your wallet every year.
You think the fans have won because they got to watch Trout and Ohtani play. Watching them play is nice, but they could have watched them on the visiting team and had the same feeling.
I guarantee that every fan would trade that experience for seeing their team win a WS. What fans want to see is winning and you have consistently failed to provide the fans with a winning team.
Rant over.
BBisLife got it right about relating to players more than the team. I’m a long time Dodger fan but I am interested in the Angels solely because of Shohei Ohtani. Even if he doesn’t become a Dodger, I would still follow his career.
Translation……Moreno is selfish with a child-like ego. He wants to be the center of attention even if it means screwing over one of the most loyal and baseball saavy fan bases in the the nation.
Another poster compared him to Al Davis. That’s not fair. Al Davis had a long period where his hunches and gambles paid off. Moreno skipped the creative genius part and went right to “I’m the smartest guy in any room, even if my big market team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2009.”
They wanna keep Ohtani until he’s 18,229 years old?
I was really, really hoping he would sell. I like he’s on board with the tax, but its also a sign he knows he will be outbid for Tani. Although he does want to win and admitted to spending money wrong, dude why did it take Perry for tou to understand the splash of Trae turner would have got us nowhere.. but yeah I guess trea would have been better than Velazquez
A few points from a long time Angels season ticket holder.
Arte has spent, but only on name athletes to put behinds in seats, not to win. Arte said so himself. The Angels are the only team that negotiated a clause in their rent where they are paid for attendance going over a certain number of fans, so Arte’s goal has always been to fill the seats, not to win,
When fans complained about Pujols, Arte said that was the best contract he has ever signed and he would do it again because ticket sales went up 10% immediately after the signing and Arte made money from it.
At the trade deadline last season there were offers on the table for Ohtani that would have rebuilt the farm and added good MLB players to the roster, but Arte vetoed it. Not because they were not great deals for the team in terms of building a winning team. But because Trout was on the IL and fans would have no star player to come to the park to see. That is Arte in a nutshell. Its not about wining, its about fans in the stands,
After Reagins quit, Arte dismantled scouting and player development staffs Tony had built and analytics were non existent until Eppler. When Eppler was hired there was no analytics department and he was limited to 3 guys. There were no professional scouts at all. The international scouting consisted of one full time guy and reports from buscones and independent scouting organizations, The Angels player development staff was the smallest in baseball at the end of the 2015 season.
Arte refused to allow Eppler to sign starting pitchers because “those deals just end up like CJ and Jered”. He hasn’t allowed a deal for a pitcher longer than 3 years since 2012 when both Wilson and Weaver signed 5 year deals. .
What Arte has done this offseason is allow Minassian to make short term signings that make the depth of the team better, but don’t move the needle enough to create a winning team. They are only incremental improvements. None of the additions are top players.
He can now say “but, but, but I am spending $220 million”. Yeah, if you had spent $240 million you could have put a playoff team on the field.
Now all LA fans have to look forward to in 2023 is the final season of Ohtani and another October watching the Dodgers in the playoffs. But there will be 3 million people that fill the stands at the Big A and Moreno will collect his millions.
The reasons Arte didn’t sell the team is not because the money offered wasn’t enough. Soon-Shiong was rumored to be close to $3 billion before he bowed out. It wasn’t “unfinished business”, because this team didn’t add enough to make up the 14-17 wins it would take to make the playoffs. It was because Arte wants to suck one more year of huge profits out of a team that has Ohtani and Trout before all the lawsuits against the Angels come down on the team’s head.
If he had been willing to take responsibility for what his employees have done in the Skaggs and Anaheim stadium situations and indemnify the potential buyers, he would have already been able to sell the team and ride off into the Arizona sunset, That day cannot come soon enough for Angels fans.
Exactly.
Arte Moreno is a baseball fan, I understand that.
However, he has made too many impulse buys and signings that blew big holes in his MLB team budget and hurt the Angels ability to fill multiple holes on the roster.
(Redone and others).
Moreno should have hired a crackerjack MLB Baseball Executive like 10 years ago and rebuilt the Front Office, Farm system, player development, International signings a long time ago and the Angels would be close to the level of the Astros and Dodgers now.
The Angels were never just 1 or 2 players away from the playoffs, but they ran their Front Office and Team like it was true. Stop buying players on the backsides of their careers and paying for past performance etc.
Angels do not have the funds to pay Ohtani 40M per year without creating serious holes in other parts of their team.
Don’t make an emotional decisions on your stars.
Do the right, unpopular thing and trade Ohtani for a Soto like package of 5-6 top young prospects and players. With the players gained, the Angels will open a new window of contention in 2-3 years.
If you really want to be very bold, deal Ohtani for 5-6 top young players and prospects
AND deal Trout for another 5-6 top young players and prospects.
Load the Angels with great young, future superstar players.
Then, the Angels can be the next Astros or Dodgers or Padres or Braves.
I don’t thing Moreno has the stomach to do that.
If it was a New Owner, then they would not hesitate to totally restructure the
Angels team.
Arte bought the Angels right after they win the World Series. The 2002 Angels had the 15th highest team payroll yet won the World Series. But baseball isn’t like that anymore. You have to spend a lot more than he spends on your whole organization. You need the right people in charge and let them do their jobs. The team payroll might be high enough now but everything else is far behind the top teams. He needs a new team president who was a top GM. The best teams have two or more good GM’s working for them.
How have the Angels skated re the Tyler Skaggs investigation? Anyone think Skaggs was the only Opioid user on the team?
You must be the town gossip.
Comparing billionare owners with a guy who only has $100 for poker? Okay Arte. Pretzel logic from the Angels owner.
Really, dlw0906? People like you make me laugh. No discernment what-so-ever.
he’s a good dude
I totally believe with what Arte had to say here. It makes perfect sense. Without the Angels, Arte’s just another rich guy. With owning the Angels, he’s still rich but famous to.