The Los Angeles Angels made headlines this past August when owner Arte Moreno announced he was exploring a sale of the franchise. The 76-year-old has owned the Angels since 2003 but is hoping to find a new buyer by Opening Day.
Despite being in the process of selling the team, the Angels have been very active this offseason, which isn’t common during these types of situations. L.A. so far has signed Tyler Anderson, Brandon Drury and Carlos Estévez in free agency, while acquiring Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela in trades.
As it currently stands, the Angels’ payroll is expected to be around $206 million next season, which would set a franchise record. That mark also ranks sixth in all of baseball.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian praised Moreno for his willingness to improve the roster despite being in the middle of selling the franchise, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group:
General Manager Perry Minasian said he hasn’t been surprised by Moreno’s green light to be active, but he appreciates it nonetheless.
“I’m not oblivious to the fact that in these types of situations, I think if you look historically, maybe the team that’s exploring a sale is not as active as we’ve been,” Minasian said on Friday. “So I think there’s something to be said for that.”
Already projected to have a record payroll, Minasian revealed he has been given the green light to continue pursuing roster upgrades for the Angels:
“I’m in constant communication with ownership, basically a daily basis and we’ve explored a lot of different areas and a lot of different places to improve this club and I don’t think that’ll stop until we get to spring training,” Minasian said. “How much more? Obviously, I’m not going to put a number on that. But I do think we can improve.”
With Shohei Ohtani returning for his sixth year with the Angels, Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout fully recovered from their respective injuries, and the roster additions thus far, the club is hoping to advance to the postseason for the first time since 2014.
With Minasian hinting that more moves are coming, the Angels could look to continue improving their pitching staff. They were linked to Nathan Eovaldi and Corey Kluber, but both starting pitchers reportedly signed elsewhere.
Phil Nevin doesn’t believe Angels’ potential sale is ‘distracting’
While a sale of a franchise can be viewed as a distraction, Angels manager Phil Nevin does not believe it has been an issue thus far. “I don’t think it’s a distraction at all,” Nevin said of the team’s potential sale.
“I mean, I read the same things you guys do. I’m not part of that. But, no, I don’t think it’s a distraction at all.
“If anything, what we’ve been able to do this offseason and add I think it’s just a credit to what our ownership is right now. And he’s not just going to pack up and leave us stranded on an island. I think he still has a lot of love and care for our organization and the processes we’re going through right now and we all respect each other in that way.
“It’s been nice to be able to just talk about these players and the discussions we’ve had internally amongst ourselves on how we can get better. It’s been nice to have those and not have restrictions, as we say, and we certainly haven’t this offseason.”
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