Angels owner Arte Moreno spoke to reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of Orange County Register and MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) today about various topics related to the team. Fans are encouraged to check out the article for all the details, but Moreno’s comments about the Halos’ payroll and uncertain broadcast situation are particularly noteworthy.
The two issues are naturally connected. Last season, the Angels were on FanDuel Sports Network West, owned by Main Street Sports. The company has been in a rough financial spot for a while and recently missed some payments to teams. In response, the Angels and the eight other teams who were signed with Main Street terminated their deals last month. Six of those clubs will now have their broadcasts handled by Major League Baseball itself, though the Angels are (for now) one of the holdouts.
Moreno promised some clarity “in the next five to seven days,” and said that “I’m not telling you I won’t” eventually sign with MLB. That would seem like the easiest route for the Angels this close to the start of the season, since as Fletcher notes, plenty of “more work and negotiation” would be involved if the Halos pursued an alternative like starting their own TV network.
In signing on with MLB as a broadcast partner, teams can provide their fans with a blackout-free streaming option, but with less revenue going back to the club. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com recently wrote that such clubs get an average of roughly 50% less revenue than in past broadcasting contracts, and naturally it is no small thing having a consistent revenue stream suddenly halved.
With less money coming in, some teams have reacted by curbing or cutting spending on player payroll. The Angels have taken this route, as their 2026 payroll of $180.5MM (as estimated by RosterResource) is well below their $206MM figure from the end of the 2025 season. While Los Angeles has made some notable moves this winter, the club’s most substantial transaction from a payroll perspective might’ve been its agreement to buy out Anthony Rendon‘s final season under contract, deferring his $38MM salary for 2026 and spreading out that money over a five-year period.
Rendon’s bust of a contract is one of many high-profile signings that haven’t panned out for the Angels during Moreno’s ownership, so it makes some sense that Moreno would want to alter his approach. The owner is now prioritizing young talent ahead of bigger-ticket free agents as a way to finally get the Angels back on a winning track.
“The question is do one or two players substantially change (the record)? If you go out and spend $15 or $20 million a year times three or times five, it doesn’t get it done,” Moreno said. This doesn’t mean the Halos will keep going forward with a reduced budget forever, as Moreno said “will [payroll] get back to $200 million? Probably. We’ve got to get our TV thing worked out and we just have to improve our brand.”
Moreno bought the Angels in early 2003, and the first half of his ownership tenure has been far more successful than the second. From 2003-15, Los Angeles enjoyed 10 of 13 winning seasons and won six AL West crowns, twice advancing as far as the ALCS. The last decade, however, has been dismal — the Angels have endured 10 straight losing seasons, and are coming off a 72-90 showing in 2025. Between the many question marks on the L.A. roster and how even other teams within the AL West look much stronger on paper, it is hard to see the Angels getting back over the .500 mark this year.
This sustained lack of success has done untold damage to the Angels’ “brand,” which speaks to the catch-22 that Moreno faces in turning the team around while also spending less. Barring either a full teardown or a much stronger minor league pipeline being developed, it’s hard to see the Angels succeeding with what seems to be a half-measures approach to rebuilding.
The headline quote from Moreno’s interview will be his claim that, according to fan surveys, Angels supporters aren’t overly concerned with a winning team as part of their gameday routine. “The number one thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno said. “They want affordability. They want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, winning is not in their top five….The moms want to be able to afford to bring the kids. Moms make about 80% of the decisions. They want to be able to bring their kids and be affordable and they want safety and they want to have a good experience, so they get all the entertainment stuff or whatever.”
A winning Angels team above all is prioritized just by “the purists,” as Moreno said, though he says he shares that goal. “For me, I’ve always wanted to win. It’s just what’s the cost of winning right now?”
After 10 losing seasons, it seems like a tone-deaf response for Moreno to downplay his fans’ desire to see a winning team. Every fan would naturally want to take their family to the ballpark without having to break the bank, yet it is fair to say that Angels supporters would be more willing to spend a bit more on tickets if the team was competitive. The fact that fans apparently have winning so low on their list of priorities isn’t a good thing, as it may reflect a lack of faith from fans in their team, or a sign that if affordability is such a concern, fans may decide their entertainment dollars are better spent elsewhere than a team that never wins.
Unsurprisingly, Moreno feels “we can compete” in the coming season, feeling his team’s pitching will be substantially better. Moreno praised the work of GM Perry Minasian, but also hinted that this may be something of a make or break year given how the Angels have yet to get over the .500 mark in Minasian’s five seasons in charge of the front office. The possibility of a GM change may be one reason new manager Kurt Suzuki was only given a one-year contract last fall, as 2026 is also the last guaranteed year of Minasian’s contract.
“I really like Perry. At the end of the day, you have to start adding up wins and losses,” Moreno said.
In terms of his own stewardship of the franchise, Moreno said he has no plans to sell the team. Moreno did explore selling the Angels back in 2022, but pulled the team off the market in 2023, and reiterated today that he continues to love owning the team.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Who did they survey? Dodgers fans?
“They want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Oh, and Bryce Harper and the Phillies will be in town August 28-30. So what do you say, Hunter Strickland…will you sign this contract and show these fans what a good time looks like?”
My family had season tickets since the opening Anaheim season of 1966 and I’ve unfortunately been locked to this team my whole life.
I feel qualified to rep most Angel fans and would like to formally issue a rebuttal statement.
Arte: WE WANT TO WIN. Like for real. 100 bucks says your boy John Carpino either cooked the survey results or just surveyed drunk Moms on a Tuesday afternoon.
SELL THE TEAM. That is all.
Nuke, he certainly didn’t survey season ticket holders.
Exactly. I could write a whole thesis paper on that article alone. Topic: Why Arturo Moreno Needs To Sell The Angels.
His survey comment is all we need to know. He’s basically saying that he and his staff are doing a good job. 10 straight losing seasons doesn’t matter to his customers.
I could go on and on. And on. Just get out of the game Arte. It passed you by 20 years ago.
Apparently the season ticket holders are “purists”. Who cares what those weirdos want, I guess.
Moreno is still pouting because his deal to buy the stadium and 151 acres at a stupidly low cost was nixed in 2022….partially due to a bribery scandal. With his dreams of world domination ended, he’s just holding the fans hostage out of spite. The MLB should really step in, but that seems very unlikely.
That’s fine with me. I won’t spend another dime on the team (tickets or TV) until he’s gone. I’m pretty sure I can outlast him both financially and in time on this planet. In the meantime, there is lots of great college baseball in So. Cal that will scratch my baseball itch.
Arte is smarting because he just took a huge hit to his wallet paying off the Skaggs family.
You mean the part insurance didn’t cover?
Insurance covers only a tiny portion of it. I take out policies on each building we work on as big or bigger than the one Arte had. If he wasn’t a cheapskate it may have paid $5 million of the $90-100 million he paid out. The reason the Angels have been even more chintzy this offseason than in the past is Arte took it in the shorts.
I’ve never seen any evidence or even solid reports that support your take on this. If anything, reports seemed to indicate that the insurance company paid all or most of the cost.
Do you regularly take out $5 million insurance policies for buildings your business in the process of building? Have you actually looked into this any more than just commenting here? Media reports speculated that the insurance paid most of it and they were absolutely wrong. Ask any business owner on this site how GLI policies work.
Again, I tend to favor evidence or at least solid reports over the “take” from some self-professed expert on the internet. Do you have any evidence or even reports on the matter? Because your “take” contradicts the reporting I’ve seen.
Ok. I get that you are a beach bum that doesn’t own a business nor do you have to deal with GLI. If you were a business owner, you would not be questioning my “take”. You would know its a fact of doing business.
In fact, if you are a LA area resident older than high school age, you remember a construction worker falling from the 53rd floor of a building. It was ruled by CAL/OSHA to be suicide, but the family still sued us. To WIN that case in a settlement cost me $500k and the insurance paid 80% of that. If I had not had a $5 million GLI policy, I would have paid all of it. If I had lost the case and it was $40 million instead of a $500k settlement, the insurance company would have paid a maximum of $5 million. That is what happened in in the Angels case. Arte did not have a $100 million GLI policy. That would have cost him more than Skaggs contract for the year. He might have had up to a $5 million policy.
They may have a rider for more on a player like Trout whose contract is $400+ million, but I doubt that is the case and definitely not on a player like Skaggs who was on a 1 year $3.7 million deal at the time of his death. There is just not that much chance of death or career ending injury in playing baseball as there is in the construction trades so I doubt the GLI policy in place for most teams is more than a few million. They may insure the players salary but that is a totally different type of insurance from the GLI policy that a case like the one with the Skagg’s family wrongful death lawsuit covers.
My “take” is reality. A reality all business owners face.
Do you have any evidence or even reports to back up your “expert take”? Until you do, you’re just another random self-professed expert on the internet. I think I’ll put more weight on reports from people who were actually close to the situation.
You obviously have none to back up your position or you would have shared them. You could certainly google it, but you are far too lazy and full of your teenage self to even do that. Reporters are not close to the situation. They only repeat what someone else told them and in this case it’s wrong. Every single business owner would tell you that. Now say goodnight Gracie. I only have so much time for ignoramuses and your time is up.
outinleftfield: “You obviously have none to back up your position or you would have shared them”
Actually, I did share the following with you back in December, when you first started offering your “expert” take on things. Here it is again:
Sam Blum writes for the Athletic (Dec 19, 2025):
“The questions indicated that the jury had already determined liability against the Angels, and were at least considering punitive damages, which would not have been covered by insurance. Insurance companies covering the Angels began authorizing settlement payments on Thursday, said sources familiar, though it’s unclear how much of the deal is covered.”
Again, I give this much more weight than your unsupported “take” on things. If you have any evidence or even solid reporting to share, please do so. If not, please stop spreading false information. And please spare me the blow-hard nonsense of how knowledgeable you are….I don’t believe you.
All the scandals that touch Arte, there must be something illegal that can disqualify him as an owner.
Arte said he feels like the Purists and also likes to win. That means he’s with the weirdos
WE WANT TO WIN.
==========================
Everyone wants to win.
Top Five Things Arte Moreno Says Fans Want And Why It Infuriates Angels Fans
1. Affordability
According to the Orange County Register, Arte says the number one thing fans care about is simply being able to afford to attend a game. Not winning. Not competing. Just getting in the door.
2. Safety
He lists safety as another top priority which is fine, but again, it’s not why fans invest their hearts in a team.
3. “A Good Ballpark Experience”
Arte talks about food, comfort, and the “experience” of being at the stadium. Meanwhile, the product on the field keeps sinking.
4. Entertainment Value
He frames baseball like it’s a theme park attraction — as if fans show up for fireworks and giveaways instead of a competitive roster.
5. Everything Except Winning
And then he said the quiet part out loud:
“Winning is not in their top five.”
That’s a direct quote. That’s the owner of a Major League Baseball team telling the world that winning isn’t something fans care about.
If your own owner believes winning isn’t a priority for the people who support the team, then what’s the point of going to games?
Why buy tickets?
F That Winning is everything
I want certain things like a useable restroom and not being shot at…..but those are givens, not really reasons to pay for tickets.
And I wont need anything at a stadium when I know that the team owner isn’t even trying to win. They could have the nicest freakin’ bathrooms in America, free Mike Trout bulletproof vests, and $1.50 hot dogs….and I’m still finding something else to do.
It’s not that Artie is cheap! 90% of the free agents we spent big money on were horrible once they became Angels!
When Perry was hired the payroll was maxed out from the Rendon fiasco so he didn’t have the funds to sign significant free agents!
Couple this with the Angels inability to draft major league caliper players after the 1st. round and we have the situation the Angels are in today!
U can blame Perry for not revamping our draft department. Poor signings and poor drafting are the reasons the Angels stink!
rottenboyfriend: “It’s not that Artie is cheap! 90% of the free agents we spent big money on were horrible once they became Angels!”
Arte used to pay players with name recognition (usually based on past performance)….but he cut corners on everything else, such as building a balanced roster, scouting, coaching, facilities, etc. His only priority is his net worth.
@sealbeach. Aj on foul territory, just said he knows someone that was asking about the baseball of operations job. Had a detailed list stating the samething about building everything from the ground up, and arte said that doesn’t work for me. Thank you for your interest. Just like ABS was installed, they had two years, and didn’t get the screens.
I would like my team to win. Good thing it’s not the Angels.
Of course what want the team to win. But you be surprised how some people really don’t care. Sad but true
My wife – smart, beautiful, kind – is clueless about baseball yet LOVES going to the Angels games.
So yes I go and am frustrated that Brogdon gives a rocket shot to Gunnar, or Schanuel touches 1st base before throwing home for what would have been an easy force play, or Campero gets creative on the basepaths.
I’m angry and frustrated, and she truly doesn’t understand why. “I had a great time tonight. Thank you.”
And two weeks later, she wants to go again.
Sounds like she loves watching baseball. You’re a lucky man.
Or how people who’s most competitive experience playing baseball happened on a little league field still feel they have any right to talk smack about players making a mistake or a pitcher just getting beat…. I wonder what kind of moon shot Gunnar would hit from you tossing up meatballs.
We can all be mad about losses, because a win is much more fun. But to criticize a guy who plays a sport so well that the worst play or biggest mistake he ever makes is still worlds better than the best play you could ever make is absolutely idiotic.
Where is this coming from????
Wow.
I never said I was better than a big leaguer, and I absolutely respect their abilities. They are amazing athletes.
I’m not the type of guy who loses his mind over sports.
But I *am* a fan who wants to see his team win, so yes, I get frustrated when we don’t win.
Relax…
Guy needs to hire someone to speak for him. Does anyone believe A. He is making less $ so moms can bring kids to the game or B he is charging as much as the right ratio of people are willing to pay.
“The question is do one or two players substantially change (the record)? If you go out and spend $15 or $20 million a year times three or times five, it doesn’t get it done,”
Yes
Don’t believe me watch the Pittsburgh Pirates this year. And it’s only 1 or 2 year deal not 3 or 5 and not 20 million. Just don’t go after Soler
The Rangers (2-3 big offseasons with free agents), Dodgers (same), and Braves (a big trade deadline spree), and others got it done.
What a mission statement to guide the franchise: “Winnjng isn’t even a top 5 goal.”
It’s the fans who don’t care about winning according to him.
How will the players receive these quotes? What top talent will want to sign knowing the owner feels this way? Although it’s likely already widely known around the game.
Players are humans. Humans want $. He can say he hates players. Wish he could only pay them $8 a hour. But if he offers them the most $ they will gladly sign the line to be Angels.
Fans are also humans. If he wins the off season next year or just wins games they will forget all about these comments and say here take my $ Arte. Pirates 1.7m attendance last year. Bob Nutting is just as bad or worse in Pirates fans eyes. Said done plenty of stupid things. They won off season. They should win some games. Watch attendance go up.
Maybe, depends on the player and situation. Top free agents usually already have their money and want to win. The owner is telling you their plan.
AI GM: “Players are humans. Humans want $.”
Oh, like Arenado? A So Cal native who would not waive his no trade to come to the Angels even though he was freakin’ born in Newport Beach?
Players with any other options don’t want to play in the Moreno-verse.
Arizona taxes vs California he made the easy choice aka more $$$$$ come on now people
Not encouraging.
Arte Moreno is not “cheap” as alleged by many people. At the end of the day, Arte’s biggest problem is an ego that just won’t allow him to cede baseball management control to another person who has a better feel for baseball management.
Arte is not cheap, he’s never met a bad contract he wouldn’t sign. And that’s the problem; too many big money deals, especially to aging sluggers and ignoring the pitching staff and minor league systems has caused the last decade of futility
I think of the no-trade decision of Ohtani and their foolish attemot to chase a wild card in 2023. It really doomed this franchise to mediocrity for the foreseeable future . I assume that it was Moreno’s call and it was primarily driven by financials.
Of course it was. Two months of people coming out to see Ohtani’s last stand was more valuable to Arte than the prospect haul and empty seats he would have gotten. Arte hasn’t made a decent decision regarding this team in decades (including the name change)
I completely agree, not trading Ohtani turned out to be a move almost as bad as their drafting.
Good thing they use “Los Angeles” in their name. Can you imagine how much worse off they’d be financially sticking with “Anaheim?”
It should revert back to the California Angels, as it was in the days of Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana.
Arte is cheap. He spends the least of any major league team on player development, on scouting, on facilities, on technology, and on analytics. I saw posts on here that for several years the workout facility at spring training was in a tent. In ARIZONA! Even on his radio broadcasters who do not travel with the team. They call the games via the TV broadcast, WHAT THE ACTUAL BLEEP!!
When he spends on players, he spends on big name position players. I did not say good players, I said big name players. He does not care if they are bad at the point when he signs them. he just wants players that the casual fan will recognize their name.
He is completely cheap when it comes to pitching, He has not signed a single starting pitcher to a deal longer than 3 years in over a decade. No good pitcher will be signing a 1-2 year deal in free agency.
Consequently his teams suck and have for more than a decade. Now he is saying fans don’t care about winning. How unconnected from fans can you possibly be? Is it any wonder that attendance at Angels games is plummeting?
Arte said winning is not on the five top list
worst owner in MLB
And one of the dumbest
what a joke.
I’m glad im not a Angels fan. You have a owner who really seems out of touch.
“Fans don’t care about the team winning, actually” is an absolutely insane take.
“The number one thing fans want is affordability,”
What Pirates fans don’t seem to love Bob Nutting for giving them all that affordability?
“They want safety”
This agree. Winning is up there but not if it means losing your life attending a game.
I’d rather win than be “safe.” I’m willing to risk it for a great team.
They want winning. But they care more about being able to attend a game
I don’t care for Mr. Moreno but I get his point. Families that go to the stadium want affordable. Individual fans that may or may not ever visit the stadium want a winning team, Some of those think spending money means winning or at the very least it shows effort.. He’s spend big money in the past, poorly, and it hasn’t brought home a winner. He’s trying a different approach. It’s not likely to do any better. It sure couldn’t do much worse.
Except Attending Angel games isn’t exactly affordable. Sure, you can grab nosebleeds for under $20, but the food and drink prices are just as egregious as any other park. He’s an absolute baffoon.
I thought I heard beer was cheaper in Anaheim.
The super small ones sold at a handful of stands.
In general the Angels concessions are right at league average. There’s just not a large variety of
Arte operates the Big Market Angels like a mid-market team. He is a billboard salesman who wants names and faces that look good on a billboard. He is one of the biggest proponent of a salary cap. He lowered the payroll so he can have less of an obligation during thr lockout at the end of this season.
He is a loser and always will be when it comes to MLB.
Nice owner. I just assumed he was charging as much as he could. I will give up a lil winning to enjoy a $4 beer and $2 dog.
IMO, that’s a resigned loser fan mentality, wanting cheap over winning. May as well watch a AAA team or Cal State Fullerton Titans because they’ll win.
Cheap gets you into the stadium and some cheap eats, but then you have to watch the Angels play at a below .450 clip, 6th worst in MLB. But you get what you pay for, or rather don’t pay for.
Arte is a total loser who just slapped the fans in the face again.
I crushed him in my write up at my new spot today. It’ll make getting credentialed harder but screw Arte.
Well done on the article. It’s frustrating that more of the mainstream media doesn’t hold the Angels to account. No investigative pieces, just puff without any critical review. Sam Blum did well a few years ago reporting on what is happening and they retaliated. His fellow reporters on the pre-game round table show had to quit it to protect him, which worked.
Sam Blum still takes the team to task. His interviews on Halo Territory are freaking great.
Sam speaks freely. I’ve interviewed him in the past.
It is obvious that Arte doesn’t care what anyone thinks about his organization. He runs the big club like a college coach eho needs to get multiple players from the transfer portal. He says he is going to rely on young players yet almost all the off season signings are players in their mid to late 30s. His system is devoid of quality talent in the upper levels. He knows that he can net a billion dollar profit by keeping the team. He has made it almost impossible to be an Angels fan.
Thank you. Most outlets don’t hold him to task.
Arte is bad for baseball. These cheap owners are hurting the game. Baseball needs owners who want to spend and expand the game, not be bean counters.
Fisher with the A’s is worse.
Maybe Disney can buy them again and make a terrible remake of Angels in the Outfield
If they’ll get a real GM who drafts the core of a World Series winner and another decade of success, I’m all for it.
Arte the owner needs to fire Arte the GM. Arte turns 80 in August.
The Jerry Jones of baseball
Hey HalosHeavenJJ, how can I read your writeups?
I now run Angels On SI.
Type that into Google and you’ll find me.
Good articles JJ. On your opening day roster prediction you accidentally put Brandon Lowe instead of Josh Lowe at LF.
Yikes. Thanks. I’ll edit that.
Wait your Jeff Joiner? That’s cool I read those articles
The audacity for him to say that the fans don’t want to see a winning team after all of this
To be fair, he said it’s not a top 5 priority.
Well for fans of a baseball team, especially the Angels, that’s just ridiculous for him to assume that it isn’t.
the funniest part is he said winning isn’t a top 5 priority and then only listed 3 other things (affordability, safety, and entertainment). What are the other 2 things he thinks supercede winning, I wonder?
For the most part, they have wasted their draft picks. The team doesn’t have top of the line prospects and has a second division players at most every day positions.
Bad owner, bad GM, no success.
I don’t see any way to pin the Angels results on the GM. He has been constrained by the owner in what he could do.
Really? His trades have been a bust. His drafts have been a bust. His free agent signings have been a bust.
Neto is so good…right? The only team in this division who would start him at short instead of second are the Ms. So what does Minasian do? He drafts a secondbaseman who struck out 33 percent of the time last year and is very questionable defensively instead of Konner Griffin or any other shortstop for that matter.
Most good infielders are shortstops, then they get moved to positions they are best suited for….but we draft a secondbaseman at #8 and not Konner Griffin at #9.
And we do stupid stuff like that every draft.
Sorry that went over your head. Moreno is to blame for the type of players drafted and the players that he allows Minasian to trade away and for. Moreno has publicly blocked several trades including Ohtani and its a certainty that he has blocked more behind the scenes.
Minasian is not allowed to sign starting pitchers to longer than a 3 year deal. Moreno is one that makes all the big player signings and he always goes after the wrong guy. He has on multiple occasions forced his GM to make moves against their advice. Pujols is one huge example.
You quote ONE draft pick without any context as if that proves something? Here is what one of the experts said about that draft pick – “Why the Angels took him here: The Angels love to take college players who appear close to the majors and Moore fits that mold, becoming their sixth straight college selection in the first round. The last two of those — Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel — are already in the majors”.
That pattern of 1st round picks started before Minasian’s first draft in 2021 and 2025 was the 7th straight year they took a college player that appears lose to the majors. Moreno has said that he asked Minasian and Eppler before him to pick college players that will have a quick ascension to the majors.
Konnor Griffin was a HS player. The last HS player taken by the Angels in the 1st round was Jordyn Adams in 2018.
You have the word HALO in your name, but it doesn’t seem like you follow the team you claim to be a fan of very closely.
To be fair, 7 other teams passed over Griffin too. He wasn’t a sure thing. Hindsight.
Oh my goodness. So nothing is Minasian fault. Got it.
That’s fair, but a secondbaseman who struggles defensively?
That’s pretty much my point.
Skip, you got about 95% of that on the money. Minasian has some leeway in who he trades for as long as they are names that Arte things will draw fans to the ballpark. Halo11 has no clue. He doesn’t really pay attention to the team. He is that casual fan that likes to flap his gums, but isn’t interested in anything other than playing the blame game. With the Angels that blame can rightfully be placed fully on Arte’s shoulders.
I don’t read where he said that nothing is Manassian’s fault, just that everything you mentioned is Arte’s fault.
He did take you to task for not understanding that the owner of the Angels is the one making the calls, not Minasian. Stop embarrassing the rest of us Angels fans,
I agree that was absolutely bone-head. Look at all the talent they could have had in the last 2 drafts. Imagine if the Angels had taken Connor Griffin in 2024 and Ethan Holiday in 2025. The 2028 infield could have been 1b Schanuel, 2b Neto, 3b Holiday, & SS Griffin. What a juggernaut.
small sample size
Minasian is a horrible judge of talent. His plan of going under slot on his first round picks so he can go over slot on a lower round pick hasn’t worked. Where are these lower round picks? Who is the last second round pick to make it? Bremner may be a decent mid rotation pitcher but there were so many better players available with the second pick in the draft. The philosophy of rushing his draft picks to the big club isn’t a wise thing to do. Let them know success in the minors first.
Bingo. Griffin got a bigger bonus than Moore, which pretty much means Minasian went for a lower prospect to do exactly what you are suggesting.
In 2021 the Angels picked Bachman in the 1st round at $1 million under slot. In the 11th round they took Chase Silseth over slot out of UA. Silseth has pitched in the majors and it has been injuries that have held him back.
In 2022 the Angels drafted Neto in the 1st round at $800k under slot and the only overslot signing after that was Caden Dana out of high school in the 11th. Dana has pitched in the majors already. One of only 3 HS pitchers in that draft taken after the 4th round to have pitched in the majors.
In 2023 the Angels picked Schanuel in the 1st round and signed him at exactly slot
In 2024 the Angels picked Moore in the 1st round at 1.5 million under slot and then took HS players Dylan Jordan and Trey Gregory-Alford. Neither should be expected to be in the majors yet and both played very well in their 1st season of pro ball.
Which one of those overslot signings was bad? That you don’t even know who those overslot signings are but you are pitching a fit tells me you are not an educated fan and that no one should pay any attention to your opinion about the Angels.
Arte is who has insisted his GM’s draft college players that can make it to the majors quickly in the 1st round and he has said so on more than one occasion. That has been going on since before Minasian was the GM. The last HS player we took in the 1st round was in 2018.
The farm system is ranked 28. All of those over slot signings were bad.
And all but Neto was a bad pick, and Neto should be playing second or third. Which often happens to shortstops who don’t have the defensive chops.
The Angels have not taken a high school players in the 1st round since 2018 because Arte has said that the GM cannot do that. He has said it in interviews. What part of that do you not understand? That is Arte’s fault, not any GM we have had. Minasian didn’t “go with a lower prospect”. He went with a college player that was closer to the major league ready because Arte has insisted that the GM draft players like that in the 1st round.
Let me say it one more time since you seem to not understand it.
Arte
Won’t
Allow
the Angels GM
To Draft
High School Players
in the 1st Round
Christian Moore – University of Tennessee
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55
A Connecticut prep school product, Moore posted a 1.062 OPS as a semiregular at Tennessee as a freshman and encored with a 1.046 OPS next spring. He has taken his production to a higher level this spring, leading NCAA Division I with 111 hits, ranking third with 34 homers (a school record) and setting another Volunteers mark with 61 career dingers. He hit for the cycle in Tennessee’s College World Series opener and led off the clincher with a home run en route to the program’s first national championship.
Solidly built at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Moore looks to do damage with an aggressive approach. His mindset, bat speed and strength give him power that plays to all fields and 25-30 homer potential
The 50 means he can play defense. That means he is average on defense. Moore was considered the better, more complete hitter between himself and Griffin and has 60 or plus power.
He took a lower signing bonus because he felt that he would have a faster path to the majors with the Angels. How do I know that? He said so in interviews after the 2024 draft. Go read the OC Register.
in 2025 Moore went from A ball to AAA and then had a cup of coffee in the majors. In the minors he struck out 82 times in 300 PA or 27.33% of the time. That is not 30% and considering he went from Inland Empire to the majors in a single season is not bad at all. He is a power hitter.
Neto struck out more than Moore did. Much more. You just said he is “so good”. Neto graded out as a 50 on defense. Same as Moore. His power graded out as only average.
You are complaining about Moore, but only 1 position player from that draft has broken out yet. Moore is one of only 3 position players to even get a taste of the majors from that draft class.
I can keep showing you how inane your comments are, but the point has been made. You can either learn or go on being ignorant of the facts. That is your choice.
The farm is in Anaheim today. I am done with your idiotic comments.
I’d love to reply to Outinin left field but he won’t allow me to reply.
So it’s Arte that won’t draft highschool kids? It’s amazing how you know so much about things you know nothing about.
It’s amazing Arte allowed the drafting of Adell and Trout. This strategy started under Minasian.
I’m so glad threw away our first round pick in 2021 so we could draft Silseth.
I have not muted you Halo11.
Adell was drafted in 2017, 9 years ago. Do you not realize that 2017 is before 2018? Minasian’s was hired in November 2020 and his 1st draft was 2021. Do you not realize that was after 2018?
Arte is quoted in many interviews including in the OC Register and LA Times as saying he wanted to draft only college players that have a fast path to the major leagues and he said that while Eppler was still the GM. That you don’t know that and still want to argue about this tells me that you have no idea about what is going on with the Angels.
We got Bachman who was a great pick and is expected to be a very good major league pitcher. the only reason he isn’t right now was an injury that cost him a season. If you have been to spring training yet, you know he is throwing 96-97 and is working towards starting the season in the rotation. THAT is not a draft pick that was thrown away. Out of all the pitchers taken in front of him, only Jackson Jobe has been better so far and that is only marginally.
Sam Bachman
RHP, Miami (OH)
Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 65 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55
55 = above average MLB player
Miami (Ohio) has produced 13 big league pitchers (most notably Charlie Leibrandt) as well as Bill Doran, Adam Eaton and Tim Naehring via the Draft, but it’s Bachman who should become its first-ever first-round pick. An immediate starter as a freshman in 2019, he kicked his stuff up a notch in the Grand Park Summer League after the coronavirus shutdown and then again during fall practice. Some scouts have given top-of-the-scale grades to both his fastball and spring, when he ranked second in NCAA Division I in WHIP (0.77) and fourth in hits per nine innings (4.4).
After working at 91-94 mph for much of his first two college seasons, Bachman now sits at 94-97 and hits 101 with plenty of armside run and sink. His slider also has gained more power, operating in the mid-80s with nastier bite and destroys left-handers and right-handers alike. His deceptive, heavy changeup in the mid-80s gives him at least a solid third offering.
OMG you just want to troll.
What you rather have KG instead of Christian Moore?
I’ve defended his spending a few times, I think he tries. That said those were some wild statements, I legitimately cannot believe he said that stuff out loud.
Historically he has spent, but not at the level you’d expect for such a large market. Also alot of that spending has been on ill-advised contracts that he pushed through the finish line despite many around him cautioning against.
At the least, hire a great president of the baseball operations and let him run the team. If you are not going to do that, sell the team!
In October of 2009 the Angels lost the ALCS in 6 games. They had won 3 straight division titles.
In November of 2009 Arte installed his college buddies as president and chairman of the team.
It’s been all downhill since then.
Are those guys still there?
Yes.
Sell the team if you don’t think the fans that k winning is in the top 5 of important things for MLB franchise. We don’t want participation trophies.
This guy makes Frank McCourt look like she was a good owner.
How does he have a marketing and advertising background and says foolish stuff like this?
Yikes, the dissonance on this guy is wild. At some point, you have to look around and realize you’re the problem. He can’t even lose right because he takes nearest to Majors instead of drafting talent.
he’s a disgrace
The thing is, I really like their 1st round strategy. It’s off-meta in a way that probably turns a profit. But it needs to be coupled with a premium dev program for the rest of their system.
Strategy in theory: get a quick riser in round 1 then turn out a better asset with one of your 2nd-10th guys.
Actual result: quick riser + a bunch of resources wasted fielding an entirely pointless minor league system.
Brad, With that first round strategy you end up with second division starters instead of impact players.
Right, which is fine if you have a second prong to to your development strategy. All teams need core performers, and plenty of clubs try to draft stars and wind up with nothing (the Phillies are a good example on the successful end of the spectrum—basically just Bohm and Stott over the last 6 years yet they still contend).
You don’t win with second division players. I prefer upside, not floor.
Angels, under Minasian, worst run in Angel history, best picks, maybe the worst farm. I have no idea how he still has a job.
I mean, what do you think Enrique Hernandez and Miguel Rojas are? We can name three or five core performers in important roles on every team. The Rays and Brewers practically use more role guys than regulars.
The Rays have a pitching staff, bullpen. Aranda, Caminaro, Diaz, and are a second division team.
Three teams that used to have DSG/Main Street as their broadcast partner have increased spending while 2 have said publicly that they have not lost any broadcast income. Income for MLB as a whole went up according to Manfred. I doubt that teams lost any income from having MLB negotiate for them with the carriers. I doubt even more that if a team lost 50% of their broadcast income that they would be increasing spending. That would make absolutely no sense.
You said the magic words “according to Manfred”. He has shown to be tone deaf in the income disparity in the game increasing over the years under his watch so you think he is not going to downplay the RSN fiasco?
You keep saying income as a whole went up without anything to back it up. If you are looking just at the large markets you seem to stand up for, probably so as they are the only ones (other than the players going to play for them) making out in this screwed up system.
Arte is an idiot for sure and one of a handful of people who own teams just to own them it seems, but don’t use idiocy to downplay the game’s problems.
Manfred would not say that revenue went up if it had gone down. He would be crying a river if it had gone down. It almost undoubtedly went up much more than he claims.
Manfred has not downplayed the RSN issue, HE is the one that they are quoting as saying that team broadcast revenue is down 50%. That is complete and utter nonsense because several teams that lost their RSN have INCREASED spending. Increased. If a business is losing money they don’t increase spending.
The first two teams that lost their RSN deal have increased their TV market size, one of them by over 1 million TV households. So far, all of the teams that have had MLB take over their broadcast rights are on all of the same carrier as before or have added carriers. Those carriers are not being allowed to carry those baseball games for free. They are paying for them. The teams with MLB handing their broadcasts also receive additional revenue from local streaming.
Common sense and logic say that saying these teams are losing money is probably a lie. Apparently common sense isn’t common at all.
Why are you so convinced it’s a lie? Is it because your large market team isn’t losing money because they have a sweet local broadcast deal that only a handful of teams have?
Manfred only recently started mentioning the RSN issue. Most likely because two thirds of teams have told him that local TV revenue disparity crap needs to be straightened out and is a must have. It is already been said MLB does not pay these smaller markets as much as the RSN deals did.
Only a few teams have increased spending, the usual suspects. We have seen a lot of teams standing pat mostly or even reducing spending because of the RSN fiasco. If you bother to read this off-season, it has been all over this site and other places. A lot of players were whining they didn’t get that big deal Bora$ promised or remain unsigned due to this.
If broadcast revenue is down as much as 50% in some cases, how are they not losing money when they are not getting as much from those deals? Talk about lacking common sense…or math skills.
One explanation for increased spending despite broadcast revenue loss is that those teams underspent in previous years.
Additionally, centralized earnings (shared to all teams) and tax earnings have increased dramatically in recent years, perhaps offsetting the lost local revenue.
I think you’re right that teams generally don’t spend more money when in the red, but you’re not looking at the whole revenue pie.
Didn’t Boras get his preferred deal for all of his clients except for Gallen? I think Boras did pretty well this off season.
“Oh brother, this guy stinks!”
-Fred from SpongeBob
I’m not confident about that fan survey. I mean, isn’t everyone’s top priority for ANY recreational activity that they make it home in one piece? You could poll moviegoers instead and I bet they’d name their safety as a priority over whether the movie is any good, but that still doesn’t mean anyone wants to pay to see awful movies. Is Arte Moreno saying the Angels are going to put an extra $50M into stadium security instead of upgrading the roster?
Arte cracks me up, he says Mom’s make 80% of the decisions and “they want to have a good experience, so they get all the entertainment stuff or whatever.” Is there lots of extra “entertainment stuff” going on at the stadium besides the baseball game? Do they have singing grounds keepers or a dance team full of hot chicks??
What year do you think it will be when the Angels win a division title ? 2028?? 2032 ?? 2036???
3-5 years after Moreno dies and the team is sold is what it looks like.
Having to really hold back here. No accountability by Moreno. Excuses, as though he were a 5 year old child. HalosHeaven hit the mark. Cronies in positions of management where they have no business being. This is Morenos doing yet he wants to place blame every where else.
Art Moreno: 5 billion dollars net wealth. Please, tell me more about what I want. Tell me more about how you, the billionaire, must charge more if you field a fully paid roster. You paid $183 million to buy this team. Stop arguing and realize it’s the ultra rich versus the rest of us, including athletes talented enough to make bank.
God. Idk how you all feel. Winning sucks omg. We went 1-9 my first year on varsity football. Two seasons later my senior year we went 10-0 and won CIF. That was the worst time in high school. Winning a championship. What a drag. I had to start therapy. It messed me up so much mentally. I look back at that 1-9 season and cannot forget how much fun it was and how amazing it was. Winning sucks.
Thanks for memories Artie
Operation extreme redundancy the quest for the first 100 loss season starts soon
All around since Trout came up this has been a poorly ran organization. Here you had a superstar who vowed to stay with your franchise thinking that you’d build a winning team around him and you wasted every ounce of it. Mr. Trout is very rich but will never win a title.
-They had Ohtani and couldn’t resign him
-No post season wins in 17 years
-No appearances since 2014
-4 contracts of players who have made over 20 mill per yr that produced negative WAR
-Most of the payroll goes to a few players
-Hamilton, Rendon and Pujols turned out to be horrible signings
-a constant struggle to develop as since ‘09 there farm system has consistently ranked between 27-29 out of 30 teams.
Oh and they changed there name to Los Angeles to try and help. lol
Well Done Angels and Arte!
Do Angel Fans and MLB a favor and sell the team, you are a joke
Arte, please do Angel Fans and MLB a favor and sell the team. It’s been a disaster ride.
-No playoffs wins since 2009
-No Playoff appearances since 2014
-You made the Anaheim Angels the Los Angeles Angels when they play in Anaheim. Absolute joke if you thought you could capitalize on that market
-You have absolutely wasted a generational talent in Mike Trout, he got super rich but that’s about it. You couldn’t build a winner once for that dude.
-You had Ohtani and literally just let him walk out the door
-Since ‘09 you have had 4 players make 20 mill/yr that have produced a negative WAR
-Signed Hamilton, Pujols and Rendon to horrible contracts that did not help the team one bit
-Not to mention since ‘09 the Angels have been one of the worst teams in the league in development, consistently ranking between 27-29th out of 30.
Arte & Co. you guys are a joke and have destroyed that franchise. It’s time you move on
Ha ha. Uh oh.
I think he might have been trying to say there are more mum driven casuals than hard core supporting diehards in their fanbase.
Ha ha. Gutsy.
Despite 10 straight losing seasons attendance has been hovering around the middle of the pack. They were 5th in the AL with 2.64 million fans showing up last year. Arte is wrong about a lot of things, but I do think he’s right about this one. Angels fans are still showing up to watch the dumpster fire. You’d think that after this much losing fans would stop buying tickets and find something else that’s more worthy of their time and money but no.
I think where the Angels play they get a unique mix of fans due to the proximity to Disneyland. So maybe more tourists than fans in some respect. And the tourists help prop up attendance figures. In a way it’s similar to Denver, and how they seem to always attract fans there regardless of the dreadful play on the field. It’s a nice place to catch a game in the summer.
The Angels play in a huge southern California market. Practically no one that is at games is there because they came to Disneyland. They are mostly SoCal locals. 6 years ago the FO bragged at a season ticket holder event that more than half of their attendance the previous year was season ticket holders and that they drew 1.4 million other fans from the greater Los Angeles/Orange County/Riverside area. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for out of towners coming to games.
With perfect weather most of the year, the Big A is a great place to catch a baseball game.
Arte gonna Arte.
Arte has lost his mind. Either dementia has set in or he is certifiable. We buy season tickets to see our team win. That is our #1 priority. For all of us. What makes it a good experience when we come to the ballpark is the team winning. The team’s 2024 media guide said that 72% of season ticket holders were men and the average age was 52, but 80% of the decisions are made by moms wanting to bring their kids? Really? As a season ticket holder since 1984 I can say without question that the Angels never contacted me to ask my opinion on what is important to me so I am not quite sure who Arte is claiming they surveyed.
How many people actually buy season tickets though? Those packages are very expensive to the average family of 4.
Arte doesn’t release those figures, but from the few teams that have released them season tickets made up about 50% of total attendance.
Rendon had injuries that required 4 surgeries. His first injury to his hip that required surgery is one that few MLB position players ever return from. He was injured over and over while doing his job. Rehab is harder than playing and he kept doing it year after year. He should be pitied that his body gave out, but he did absolutely nothing wrong when it comes to playing. He should have kept his mouth shut, because people are generally stupid and misunderstand much of what is said, but he showed up and worked to get back on the field, As a season ticket holder that helped pay his salary I have no problem with Rendon. I am sad that it didn’t work out, but that is not his fault.
Plus it’s been widely known that he’s never loved baseball. Even during his days with the Nats he said playing baseball was like, his third or fourth priority in life. It just got magnified ×100 after he signed the huge contract and his body gave out on him. Angels didn’t have to offer him that contract, but they did, and he took it because even the biggest idiot wouldn’t turn down 245 million dollars.
The Jerry Jones of MLB. Cares more about headlines than winning.
This guy’s irony is as heavy as Rendon’s pockets. He said the fans prioritize affordability over winning. But affordability is directly tied to winning.
In the same breath, he talks wins needing to add up when speaking on his GM. So he realizes winning is important but doesn’t want to do anything about it. He won’t commit the resources but wants the GM to magically have a winning season. Completely tone deaf. Dude pinching pennies and doesn’t have a clue
Yeah, this was a weird sequence of thoughts – “We don’t care about winning because our fans say they’re happy to support a loser as long as they don’t get mugged in the parking lot, and I love our GM but he’s gonna be looking for a new job if we don’t start winning soon.”
Never seen an owner care less about winning and essentially admit it.
I’m not sure if there is a fan base that dislikes it’s owner as much as Angels fans.
We’re in the OC and we love Angels baseball, and baseball in general. We still draw 25,000-30,000 per game even while watching a poor team in a completely outdated stadium.
The fans deserve an owner that is on the same level as the fans passion for winning baseball.
Rockies fans might give the Angels fanbase a run for its money when it comes to owner hatedom.
Though to be fair, at least the Monforts continue to assure their fans that winning is a priority.
Arte just said the quiet part out loud. Every team owner cares about profits and franchise values more than they care about winning. Yes, even the Dodgers.
I’m an OC resident. I don’t root for the Angels because they don’t win.
Arte Moreno is starting to borrow straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook deflect, deny, and toss out whatever excuse happens to be convenient that day. He spent half the time talking up “improvements,” like repaving the parking lot and upgrading the Diamond Club seating, as if fresh asphalt and premium chairs are supposed to distract anyone from a shrinking payroll.
Then he pointed to the trades Perry made and even admitted, we took gambles But the real issue is the money. Without a cable deal, the revenue isn’t there, and Arte basically said it out loud. That’s why the team suddenly has to rely on the young players not because it’s some master plan, but because we have to budget what’s next Tariffs on tickets, hotdogs and beer
And honestly, how things run around here, I just hope Arte hired himself a certified HVAC technician
Last game I went to in Anaheim was 4 years ago. Arte is greedy and not very smart. Maybe this year, maybe not. Why not get a new team to yell for. I do not care if I can watch a spring training game. I got other things to do. Baseball, like earth is un fair. Kiner just neede to run through home plate. Kiner got a lousy lead. The dodgers won the series, because they were supposed to. Money money money Kiner should have slid head first, at least. My wish is that the angels wi 15 more games this yea.
R
Moreno has the guts or stupidity to say what the majority of the owners think. This is entertainment. Winning matters but making money matters more. Put athletic young (inexpensive) players out there for our entertainment. What’s not to understand? MLB is a cash cow. Owners have Known about it for years, and still keep their books closed. As long as people buy tickets, viewing services, and merchandise, nothing will change. Listen on the radio. It’s still free. For the time being anyway.
Winning puts behinds in the seats.
making money is the most important thing.
Behinds in the seats makes more money
100% tone deaf. What fan doesn’t want their team to win? Affordability and safety? Did he survey only moms with small children?
8 of the 9 teams affected by the TV deal signed with MLB. His holding out shows his absolute stubbornness and inflated ego.
Families looking for something to do for a few hours in the summer make up the most people who attend baseball games. That’s the target demographic for all 30 teams because that’s also the vast majority of the population. Generally, those people don’t care *too much* if the home team wins or not, just as long as the players they pay to watch try their hardest and make it look fun for the kiddos. Being able to go out, watch a bunch of grown men act silly with sticks and a ball, eat some junk food, and not get mugged or assaulted in the process are the top 3 things. Hell, I bet us weirdo nerds arguing on MLBTR and other sites all day about wins and losses still have fun watching live baseball even when our favorite teams are the ones getting shellacked. There’s always something even in those games that I can enjoy. Like a future hall of fame player having a big night, or a position player pitching an inning during a blowout. I went to game 162 in 2021 in Seattle, my Mariners lost and got eliminated from contention but I did get to see Ohtani hit a home run and watched the oldest Seager brother play his final game. I wouldn’t trade that memory for anything.
Beer Can – “Families looking for something to do for a few hours in the summer make up the most people who attend baseball games. That’s the target demographic for all 30 teams because that’s also the vast majority of the population.”
I don’t agree with that statement. Do you have some legit report that backs that up? I’ve been to countless Angels games and every time I’m surrounded by passion for the home team to win. For Moreno’s survey to suggest that winning isn’t even in the top five priorities of fans is objectively not believable. I’ll add that if fans were not interested in winning as a top priority, why would any owner spend the kind of money they do to field a winning team (Dodgers, et al)? It wouldn’t matter as long as it was affordable and safe.
Anyway, maybe the environment is different in Seattle, possibly because you guys have constructed a competitive team while we have wallowed in below .500 ball for over a decade. Good luck this season!
Put down the beer cans.
50% of the people that attend games are season ticket holders.
According to Manfred, the average age of a ticket buyer was 45 in 2025. That means half of the baseball fans buying those tickets are over 45. 45 year old people rarely have small children and those in their 50s, 60s, and 70s almost never do. The entire knock on baseball was that the audience is old.
I always thought the idea of Los Angeles being a war zone was mostly a RW exaggeration. Is LA really that dangerous? For someone that’s gone to more Yankee games than I can count, it’s difficult to imagine.
Joe – It’s like any other area. You know what parts to stay away from. Anaheim is the same way. Angels Stadium is in a good part of town.
It is a RW exaggeration. I would be far more frightened walking from a game to my hotel in St Louis or Baltimore. Memphis is scary. OC, especially the area around Disneyland and the Big A, is not.
This is hilarious. Somehow acting like safety wouldn’t be a priority if the team commits to winning.
Oh, sorry guys, in order to sign Framber Valdez this season, we had to agree to have convicted felons get in free every Friday night, Free food for children on Sundays as they fight for it with rabid dogs.
Arte Moreno needs to get out of his own way.
As I posted years ago, Arte should have completely cleaned house:
Front Office, Scouting Player Development, International scouting and signing
Fire All those guys.
Find professionals with strong track records to run the Front Office, give them a yearly budget and let them build a long term contender.
DON’T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR. DO IT NOW.
And, get out of their way: delegate, delegate, delegate.
Let them do their jobs and run the baseball team.
I posted years ago that Angels could have jump started the team and entire system by:
Trading Mike Trout 4-5 years ago when he still have huge value in trades
for a huge package of great young players and prospects that would have the Angels in Contention Now
AND, Arte should have traded Ohtani and received a huge package of top young players and highly rated prospects in his walk year.
Those 2 Bold Deals would have remade the Angels franchise and make them competitve for the playoffs.
Then, Angels could have supplemented those two blockbuster deals
by signing a few smart, free agents to shorter term deals to round out their roster.
Also, Angels should have spent more on the International draft
The Current Angels ballclub is like a huge boat in destress on the high seas trying to limp to a port 50-100 miles away
Drastic Action is needed.
Arte is too close to the situation to see that he even has a problem and how to tackle it.
And, he is too stubborn to do what it takes to produce a winner,
TAKE DECISIVE ACTON OR SELL THE TEAM.
Also, with the Angels in the LA Area, their revenues are masked by the large numbers of fans going to Angels games that are transplants from other US Cities. Those fans are going to Angels games to root for visiting teams from other cities that they rooted for their entire lives prior to moving to LA. and not for the Angels
So, many of those fans attending Angels games have :divided loyalties and don’t care if the Angels lose as long as their original home city’s team wins.
Of course that plan only works if Arte Moreno had hired a highly rated, highly respected POB to completely rebuild the Front Office and all aspects of the baseball operations and team(s) from top to bottom.
And, the plan only works if Arte Moreno would get out of the way and let his baseball professionals do their jobs and make the decisions necessary to build a pennant contending team.
Otherwise, If Arte continued to micromanage his baseball professionals, then the results would not have been much different.
How do you trade someone who has a full No Trade protection?
What kind of huge return do you get for a pitcher with a balky elbow?
A long list of teams would have traded for Ohtani and given 4-5 top young major leaguers and major league prospects for Ohtani
Even the Dodgers would have jumped on it and their farm system is usually loaded with blocked, expendable talent.
No trade protections are commonly negotiated and can be waived for the right incentives and for the player to have a say in where they may be going.
The return for Ohtani I feel like would be lower than you’d imagine. He’s only likely to sign with a west coast team and was still just a rental, and may have been a DH only at that time?? Probably would have gotten one good prospect who got his feet wet in the majors and another lower end top 10 guy. IMO.
Soto is essentially a DH playng OF.
Ohtani is a generational player.
Soto was traded 2 times in 3 years for very nice returns.
Arguably, Ohtani is a better, more complete player than Soto
and more desireable in a trade.
Ohtani can carry a team on his back for Division Titles, pennants and World Series titles.
Soto has not shown that he is that player.
And a team(s) looking for that one player to put them over the top for a Championship would have traded for Ohtani and given up some great, young talent for him,
There would have been a bidding war a trade for Ohtani.
The returns would have been much higher than you think.
Soto wasn’t a 2 month rental so he’s not a good comp.
Look at the playoff teams & tell me which ones had a NEED for a DH only player.
Yes, NTC can be negotiated, the player gets to decide if he want to leave the organization. Trout has decided he wants to play for the Angels regardless of observers/fans think they know about the situation.
If Ohtani could carry a team on his back for Divisional Titles, pennants and World Series Titles, why couldn’t he even produce a winning season for the Angels?
As for trading him for for a big haul of prospects, I don’t think it would have been that big for a two month rental for a DH.
He grew up a Dodger fan and would have initially signed with the Dodgers had the NL have the DH at that time.
As a free agent, he had no intention to sign with any other team that Dodgers.
It could have been a trade for an entire MVP deadom of Ohtani if the Angels traded Ohtani brfote the beginnimg of his “walk year”.
Ohtani is a much better player than Soto and his trade value would reflect that
Padres received a nice package from the NYY for only year of Soto.
You missed the points made by me and other posters here.
In order to help “carry the team” to the “next level”, your team must have been constructed with at least a msjority of above average major league players and some star players…players with upside who have the takent,grit and determination to rise to the next level of play.
The Angels WS Championship team was loaded with talent that came together to play @ the highest level.
The Angels, with Ohtani and Trout (Future Hall of Fame Talent,)had some talent, but also had very large holes in their pitching staff and position player talent.
Those Angels teams had too many fading veterans, too many AAA and AAAA players and could not would not win a Championship with those mediocre rosters.
Look at The Dodgers with Kirk Gibson lighting the fire.
A team that was called “the stuntmen” by their own announcers because no one thought that Dodgers team was a World Series winning team. They finished what?! Last in their Division the year before.
Gibson lit the fire and carried that team neyond their own expectations. Players resonded.
Ohtani could have had that affect for a number of teams renting him for 1 year.
And, the Angels would have trceived a bigger and better package for Ohtani than the Padres received for 1 year of Soto.
There was no reason to keep Ohtani until the trade deadline since yhe Angels roster had too many holes in it and was not a potential World Series Team
He’s not wrong. Most attendees only want to have a good experience.
The small percentage of hyper-engaged fans that post online or are vocal about the ownership don’t actually represent the fan base as a whole.
I don’t care about safety or food/drink prices. I’ll eat my own arm at this point if it meant seeing the Pirates in the World Series!
As would most people for their team that post on the internet but you ask the “casual” fan and they just want to be entertained.
Season seat hold here for about 20 years … fan since the late 1980’s as well after I moved to the OC from the LA suburbs. There are probably about 4 or 5 (maybe 6) types of folks that actually attend an Angels game … local family types who just enjoy being together outside of the house and in the fresh open air, visitors to the area (Disneyland, business conferences, seeing relatives, kids summer camps), fans of the other team, actual baseball fans and, lastly, Angels fans (not counting another group of people who are gifted free tickets for a variety of reasons and could not care less about the game and are just there to socialize). The first four types of people (and definitely the 6th) who pass through the gates, buy the souvenirs and pay for the overpriced and yucky concessions don’t care who wins or loses. The minority of the actual attendees to an Angels games are the ‘Angels fans’ and they, as well as the people who post here, are the people who care about wins or losses.
About half the fans in the stands at ever game are season ticket holders. In other words, hyper-engaged fans. More than just a few of the others are also.
I’ll give you that a portion of them are hyper engaged but there is also a portion that are corporations and people with disposable income who generally don’t participate in online discussions who go to them purely for entertainment/experience of going to the game.
No matter what you think, the hyper engaged crowd is not the majority of fans attending games in most sports.
I have been a season ticket holder since the 1980s.
Take a look at the Angels media guide for last season. Arte is very proud that only 4% of season tickets are purchased by corporations. Luxury box sales are nearly all corporately owned, but most of the seats in the bowl are people like me.
It isn’t what I think, it’s what I know from attending 70+ home games per season as a season ticket holder. You can try to argue the point until you are blue in the face and it won’t change the facts. Half the seats at any game are season ticket holders and people that buy season tickets have to change their lifestyle to attend that many games. We are hyper engaged fans.
When you talk to fans at the games you find that many are not season ticket holders but are still “hyper” engaged. You see thousands with official jerseys, some going back decades. They live and breath baseball, but can only attend a few games a season.
We ARE the majority of fans attending MLB games.
Now that may not be true in Dodger Stadium where fans show up in the 3rd and leave after the 7th, but in most ballparks across the nation I am absolutely sure that its the same as in the Big A.
Going back as far as the Yes We Can 1979 Angels, there has been a vibe with that franchise that has spanned a spectrum from simple bad luck to total incompetence. There was even a theory of Anaheim Stadium sitting on an Indian burial ground. Then you see what should’ve been a modern day Mickey Mantle exhibit Stockholm Syndrome and not ever utter displeasure in what that franchise does is pathetic. TV won’t matter when the show would be cancelled.
What a Fuqin joke of a franchise!!!
I have been to games at Angels Stadium.
The menu is very limited and does not reflect the wide ranging food tastes in Southern California.
Petco Park is rated as having the best food options at the ballpark in MLB
As a lifelong Angels fan I personally would love to see at least a competitive team take the field and have a shot at the division again! SELL THE TEAM ARTE!
“Will payroll go back over 200 million? Probably”As much as he’s a terrible owner I have to give him credit for saying that. Not many owners would. Too many are actually saying and doing the opposite
The thing is that’s about the only thing baseball related that he’s actually investing in. Sure, you can sign the big free agents every couple of years, but if you’re also not able to develop the younger and cheaper players with any consistency you’re just stuck with a top heavy roster and tied to big contracts that turn very sour within a few years.
Well Arte is right, we like affordable.. except we do want to win too. were not the Pirates. He lowered the beers $ for the dad’s forced to go watch baseball games with moms and kids. Going to a dodger game is too expensive, and yes at one point not very safe feeling. Let’s not forget he fielded winning teams for a decade. Now he almost has us driving out of a parking structure because the parking lot will soon be apartments like thee goo ole George where Ohtani actually lived for a bit
RonTingley: “Let’s not forget he fielded winning teams for a decade.”
What he was did purchase a solid organization in the MLB’s second largest market that was fresh off a WS win. Then he spent the next two decades running it into the ground to cash in on fan loyalty. Last winning season for this big market team was ten years ago. Last playoff game win was 17 years ago. Drug scandals. Bribery scandals. This organization is an embarrassing dumpster fire.
We use to have Bill, Mike and Eddie. Now we have Arte, John and Perry. I can only sigh and curse.
@seal Apparently you still don’t remember. Can’t help you bud
RonTingley: “@seal Apparently you still don’t remember. Can’t help you bud”
Apparently, you want to revise history to make excuses for one of the worst owners in the MLB. Can’t help you bud.
Go walk the beach. It’s just a game. Go Angels!
RonTingley: “It’s just a game. Go Angels!”
I see winning isn’t in your top 5 priorities either. No wonder you seem like another Moreno PR troll. Moreno would rather gaslight than build a winner. Funny thing is…..winning would have made him more money….he outsmarted himself.
Relax. Winning isn’t a priority.
RonTingley: “Relax. Winning isn’t a priority.
Arte? Is that you?
,”Winning is fun.” – K Gibson
Yeah, like the last time our big market team was over .500 a decade ago? Or the last time we one a single playoff game in 2009? That was really neat too.
WINNING is not a priority?!
Seriously, screw this.
He’s only going to sell if we boycott.
SpaceRangerAngel: “He’s only going to sell if we boycott.”
I’ve way ahead of you.. It’s not like there are no other interests or things to do in So.Cal. Lately, I’ve caught several college games (TV and live) and I’m enjoying it. a lot. The college players are so enthusiastic and the whole Moreno-free atmosphere feels much more positive and wholesome. UCLA is ranked #1…..apparently, they do make winning a priority. 🙂
If Angel fans would just pick one day to boycott for the people that have season tickets
My teams I’ll be watching who are not the Angels: Brewers, Giants, Mets and Seattle (yes, I know, but Servais is gone and I like their team),
Lousy moustache farte. He like a politician. Regardless, I want the angels to win whatever amount it takes to get a wild card spot in 2026. I am not attracted to angel games in Anaheim. The last time I went was 2021. With maddux in as pitching coach he will remind the pitchers to throw strikes. To me, there starting line up looks strong. Maybe arte said something stupid at this time, for a little news. No such thing as bad publicity. The angels will be great this year. They have pkenty of talent.
Terrible business man and organization. Waiting until the last minute to realize the writing on the wall when it came to broadcast outlets. That’s just one example. No vision, whatsoever.
Jim Rome absolutely torched Arte Moreno on the air — and honestly, he just said what every Angels fan has been screaming for years. The moment Arte said winning isn’t a top‑five priority for fans? That was it. That was the mask slipping. That was the owner of a Major League Baseball team admitting he doesn’t think winning matters.
And Rome didn’t let it slide.
He hit him with the truth:
If you can’t afford to win in this league… SELL. THE. TEAM.
If you can’t keep up, step aside. If you can’t invest, move on. If you think fans don’t care about winning, then you’ve completely lost the plot.
Arte Moreno is so out of touch it’s almost surreal. Angels fans show up, year after year, pouring hard‑earned money into a stadium that hasn’t seen a real competitive plan in a decade. We’re loyal to a fault. We deserve better. We deserve an owner who actually wants to win not one who treats the franchise like a billboard company with a baseball team attached.
At some point, you start asking the real question:
Why are fans giving more effort than the owner?