The Los Angeles Angels announced long-time owner Arte Moreno is weighing the possibility of selling the franchise.
“Today, Angels Baseball announced that the Organization has initiated a formal process to evaluate strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the team,” a statement revealed on Tuesday morning.
Moreno purchased the Angels in April of 2003, the season following their 2002 World Series championship. In his 20 years of ownership, the Angels clinched a playoff berth six times, and reached the ALCS twice.
However, Moreno’s hands-on ownership style and lucrative contracts to position players has drawn significant backlash from fans. Since Mike Trout made his MLB debut in 2011, the Angels have made the playoffs just once, and have yet to win a postseason game.
Calls for Moreno to sell the team have only grown since he landed Shohei Ohtani in 2018. Despite having two of the world’s best baseball players, the Angels have not had a season above .500 since 2015.
In the statement released by the team, Moreno gave a quote of his own. “It has been a great honor and privilege to own the Angels for 20 seasons. As an Organization, we have worked to provide our fans an affordable and family-friendly ballpark experience while fielding competitive lineups which included some of the game’s all-time greatest players.”
“Although this difficult decision was entirely our choice and deserved a great deal of thoughtful consideration, my family and I have ultimately come to the conclusion that now is the time. Throughout this process, we will continue to run the franchise in the best interest of our fans, employees, players, and business partners.”
