Angels fans are thrilled that Arte Moreno is exploring selling the team, but should they be?
It’s been a tough decade for the Angels. They’ve wasted much of Mike Trout’s prime, and could do the same with Shohei Ohtani if he doesn’t find a way out first.
A change in ownership could mean many things, but let’s go over a few outcomes:
First, it’s unknown exactly who would take over as acting owner, so that situation is in flux.
Second, Juan Soto was just traded away from the Washington Nationals, in part because he didn’t feel he knew ownership, and wasn’t involved in front office thinking. LAA must be careful with their stars during this time period.
Third, the Angels aren’t very good right now. It’s unknown if new ownership would raise or lower the payroll, despite the star talent on the roster.
This could mean many things for Ohtani and Trout. Perhaps a new owner would inject life into the team, in similar fashion to Steve Cohen with the Mets. Or, a new owner could gut the team of its resources and shift focus to a small-market franchise. The latter feels unlikely given the Angels’ proximity to Los Angeles.
Arte Moreno places the #Angels up for sale in surprise announcement pic.twitter.com/X1WtTwQfce
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 23, 2022
Arte Moreno could sell the Angels: Best memes and tweets
As is the case with most ownership changes, fans of the team were thrilled. The millionaires and billionaires who buy sports franchises are rarely well-liked. Moreno is no exception.
Angels fans seeing Arte Moreno is gonna sell the team pic.twitter.com/D0d0jyAstV
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) August 23, 2022
This is a monumental day for the Angels organization.
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) August 23, 2022
Arte Moreno has pretty much been on the wrong side of every issue the past decade and turned himself into one of the worst owners in sports.
Whoever the new ownership group ends up being has a very low bar to clear.
In light of the Arte Moreno news, here are some other baseball owners that need to sell their respective teams (other than Chris Ilitch):
— Matthew Scheidel (@mscheidel315) August 23, 2022
Bob Nutting (Pirates)
Dick Monfort (Rockies)
Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox)
Paul Dolan (Guardians)
John Fisher (A's)
https://twitter.com/bmags94/status/1562125222643347456
Shohei Ohtani finally escaping the clutches of Arte Moreno pic.twitter.com/pRRmuzEbup
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) August 23, 2022
Arte Moreno finally realized he’s the worst owner in sports and that it’s time to sell.
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) August 23, 2022
Arte Moreno just half asses everything
— JubJub (@wonderbread403) August 15, 2022
Wants a good team? Get a few expensive players, but no farm.
Wants Matt Vasgersian? Sign him to do a few games remotely.
Wants the stadium and land to develop it? Do an illegal deal with the Anaheim mayor that gets cancelled later.
All Angels fans have wanted Arte Moreno gone for SO many years. He's held this team back immensely. I pray this goes through.
— Tyler Ferrin (@TyGuy711) August 23, 2022
People don't understand how important this is for the organization.
https://twitter.com/deviIette/status/1562130550579666944
Moreno was frequently disliked, and as many of the tweets suggest, never quite understood baseball fans or the team as a whole.
He was willing to invest some, but was always overshadowed by the rival Dodgers. That will be his legacy, and Angels fans finally got some sweet justice, assuming Moreno follows through.