Los Angeles Angels fans have been calling for owner Arte Moreno to sell the team for years on end now. It comes as no surprise that the Angels were mentioned as having an owner who should be forced to sell the team in a recent Bleacher Report article.
Writer Kerry Miller categorized the “Sell the Team” demands into three categories: ‘actively looking for a sale’, ‘spends money, but poorly’, and ‘fans would love to see it’. The Angels certainly fall into the last two categories, but Miller chose the ‘spends money, but poorly’ category in the article.
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The Angels have almost always been in the top half of the league in payroll since Moreno bought the team in 2003, but there’s been nothing to show for it. Despite numerous large contracts handed out and several star players to pass through the Halos’ clubhouse, the Angels have made just one postseason appearance since 2010.
They did make it in five of Moreno’s first seven years as the owner, but thanks in part to the organization he inherited. Not to say that Moreno has never made a single good decision as the head of the Angels, but recent history has told a woeful story.
Moreno has his name attached to some of baseball’s worst contracts ever – signing Anthony Rendon for $245 million, Josh Hamilton for $125 million, Albert Pujols for $240 million, etc. His placement in the ‘spends money, but poorly’ category is well-earned because the Angels have been willing to spend large sums of money and time, time and again.
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That’s the reason why Angels fans so desperately want him to sell the team. Despite spending huge amounts, Moreno always seems to spend it in the wrong way. The willingness to spend does no good when all it does is financially handicap the team for multiple years as they wait to get out of a mistake contract they gave out, only to do it over again when they are finally free of the first one.
Fans have been demanding a sale of the team for years, and looking at the club’s recent history is enough of a reason alone as to why. The pairing of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani is something that will go down as legend – two of the greatest players to ever step on a baseball diamond teamed up while they were both still playing at the highest level.
There were three MVP Awards between the two since Ohtani joined in 2018, yet not a single winning season was recorded. Instead, the Halos watched Ohtani develop into a mega superstar and failed to keep him on the team or, at the very least, trade him at the end to get at least something in return.
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Now, the Angels are stuck again with a 90-loss team with no future to look forward to. It’s the same story every offseason. Make some moves for names that are past their primes in order to gain a bit of excitement, before ultimately finishing near the bottom of the league standings. With poor player development, drafting, and scouting, it’ll stay that way for the Halos.
There’s more excitement in Anaheim for a possible team sale than there would be for a winning season in 2026 – that tells you all you need to know about the discontent with Moreno in charge.