Moreno does a volte-face, not to sell Angels



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LA Angels not for sale anymore Image: @angelstadium (Twitter)

The Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Angels’ (US) fan base was hit with an absolute shocker on January 23rd. Angels’ owner Arte Moreno has decided that he is pulling his team off the market, and will not be selling them this offseason.

‘si.com’ stated that in the official announcement from the Angels’ Twitter, Moreno said that he feels he has “unfinished business” and thinks he can “make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience”.
 

Here’s the full announcement from the Angels:

“On January 23rd, the Angels announced that the Moreno Family is ending the exploratory process to sell the team and will continue ownership throughout the 2023 Season and beyond.”

A statement sent out by Moreno read, “During the process, it became clear that we have unfinished business and feel we can make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience. This offseason we committed to a franchise record player payroll and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series Championship back to our fans. We are excited about this next chapter of Angels Baseball.

The statement added, “We are grateful to Galatioto Sports Partners for their outstanding efforts throughout the process that allowed us to meet with a number of highly qualified individuals and groups who expressed strong interest in the club. However, as discussions advanced and began to crystallize, we realized our hearts remain with the Angels, and we are not ready to part ways with the fans, players and our employees.”

The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League West division. Since 1966, the team has played its home games at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, US.

The 45,050-capacity Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California, US. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1994.

‘si.com’ further stated that Moreno initially announced in September 2022 that he was going to sell the team, much to the delight of Angels’ fans. Moreno has owned the team for 20 seasons, and hasn’t brought them much success. He purchased the Angels after they won the World Series in 2002, and they haven’t been back since. Their last postseason appearance came in 2014, while their last winning season came in 2015.

This offseason is as important as ever for the Angels, with Shohei Ohtani’s (Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Angels) impending free agency. Many around the Angels hoped that a new owner – potentially one of the Japanese-led groups – would be exactly what the Angels needed to convince Ohtani to stay. But now, it’ll be Moreno tasked with negotiating to keep Ohtani in Angel Red.

Moreno plans to remain the Angels’ owner for 2023 and beyond. While it’s unknown how long he’s been planning on doing this, it comes as a complete shock to everyone around the Angels.

Many experts around the game of baseball had confirmed the sale would take place, including the MLB’s Commissioner Rob Manfred.

But Moreno didn’t want the record money he was going to get for the Angels – he wants to be in charge of putting together a winning team.
 

Here is Manfred’s statement on Moreno deciding to keep the team:

“Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno’s love of the game is most important to him. I am very pleased that the Moreno Family has decided to continue owning the team.”

The Angels have had a solid offseason, bringing in tons of key players via free agency and trades at a pretty low cost. The Angels have made a few moves that feel like the steal of the offseason, and clearly, Moreno wants to be involved in the team’s turnaround.

But again, few things matter right now for Angels fans outside of Ohtani’s impending free agency. Moreno was obviously the owner when the Angels convinced Ohtani to sign with them in the first place, but unless there are some major changes with the organization, he may have a tough time convincing him to stay long term. Buckle up, Angels’ fans – this is going to be an interesting year.

New York (US)-based the Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. The MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada.

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