Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is selling the franchise he’s owned since 2003 but the question remains who will buy the club? (Orange County Register file photo)

So What About the Angels Now?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

2022 was the year the Los Angeles Angels were expecting to be in the race. Mike Trout the best and most consistent player in baseball is already on his 13 season but he has only played three games in the postseason.

This week Trout fell just shy of tying the record of eight consecutive games with a home run held by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (’87) and Ken Griffey Jr. (’93). Angels began this season with the reigning MVP in 2021 the incredible Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels began the season with the best two baseball players in the world, yet they are going to finish closer to the cellar than to first place. Arturo (Arte) Moreno is currently exploring selling the club. He has owned the Angels since 2003 when he purchased the franchise for $180 million.

Moreno, of Hispanic roots made his fortune with his company Outdoor Systems, the largest outdoor advertiser in North America, the billboards you see on the roads and other places.

Moreno owns around 250,000 properties in the US, Canada and México. His frustration is understandable, while he has spend lots of money to build a contender. Days after he bought the club in 2003 from the Disney Co.

Moreno signed super-star Vladimir Guerrero, who is now in the Hall of Fame, to the biggest contract ever, that of Mike Trout whom Moreno signed in 2019 for $426.5 million, the largest contract in professional sports history.

In May of this year, Anaheim City Council members cancelled the Angel Stadium land sale following an FBI corruption probe into ex-Mayor Harry Sidhu, who resigned right away after the cancellation. A serious FBI investigation is not what owner Arturo Moreno was hoping for as the City of Anaheim void their Angel Stadium agreement.

Who will buy the Angels, if Mr.Moreno agrees to sell? Successful owners that already are in sports, like Mark Cuban or Joe Lacob, among others are the front runners. The LA Times Bill Shaikin asked Mr. Joe Lacob if he was interested in buying the Angels. “Can’t answer this question that fast. We look at good opportunities.”

We know that Mr.Lacob wanted to buy the Oakland A’s, but to buy something you need somebody on the other side that wants to sell, and the current A’s owner is not interested in selling. The last question most are asking (whomever buys the Angels) do they keep Shohei Ohtani and how much do they pay him, considering Mike Trout got close to a half-billion dollar contract.

The last time somebody did what Ohtani is currently doing, it was back in 1933, The Bambino. As of today the LA Angels are averaging 30,679 per game while the other team 25 miles north on Interstate 5, the LA Dodgers 47,936, which is número uno in baseball.

Note- The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot on Monday. They won their ninth National League West Division tittle in the last 10 years, meanwhile the LA Angels are in limbo.