AngelsWin.com Today: Thank You Arte

[Dave Saltzer]

We need to say thank you to Arte for this as much as we praise Eppler. Sure, it's easy to see this as a battle between two GMs, but Arte personally gets involved in these big deals. It's as much about Arte making and living up to his handshakes and agreements, having no debt on the team, and the ability to pay for it, as it was Eppler making the sales pitch. I think that's one of the deciding factors for us--a committed and involved owner who wants to field a championship team.

 

Sure, the results on the field haven't matched our desires, but never underestimate how much Arte wants to win and field a champion. 

 

Wow! What great news!

 

Thanks Arte.

[Angelfan79]

Yeah no more complaining about him, might not turn out good but he has gone all out for players here and there, like Pujols. 

[GrittyVeterans]

Be careful

 

The last time I saw a 'Thank You Arte' post was after we signed Pujols and Hamilton..

 

But I agree this is a great day

[Dave Saltzer]

Here's the thing: Arte's primary goal is to win a WS as the owner of the Angels. He also wants to elevate and alter our team's direction. I fully believe him when he said at our Fanfest that he wanted to raise the status of our franchise, not just for one or two years, but forever. He wants us to be seen as a powerhouse team on the West Coast and wants to alter our franchise's trajectory.

 

Like it or not, the Pujols deal was about that. Signing Pujols elevated our TV deal and set the stage for an expanded payroll. 

 

The Hamilton signing was about trying to win a WS. He thought adding a slugger like that would put the team over the top for a couple years, so was willing to override the huge risks by signing him.

 

The Ohtani deal fits both goals. It raises our trajectory and gives us a huge global stage. And, it puts us on a path towards another WS, especially if we solve 2B and possibly 3B.

 

Arte has done so much to alter and improve this franchise, that even if things don't always work out, we, as fans, are really lucky to have him. Imagine how Mariners fans are going to feel seeing their farm gutted (so no future), a bloated payroll, and no Ohtani. Things could be a lot worse for us. So, please remember that the next time you feel like going on an anti-Arte rant.

[CanadianHalo]

11 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Be careful

 

The last time I saw a 'Thank You Arte' post was after we signed Pujols and Hamilton..

 

But I agree this is a great day

That’s exactly why I haven’t said “plan the parade”

But I agree, I’ve always appreciated Arte as a owner. He has a legit desire to win and it shows. Like you said, the results on the field always haven’t matched but you can’t say he doesn’t try.

[Tyler]

Absolutely. 

 

Thank you ARTE!! We are blessed to have an owner like this. 

[floplag]

I was incredibly critical of the front office over the last 18 months or so.  
I was wrong
This shows me there is a desire to win
Going to be a very interesting winter meetings i suspect

[Troll Daddy]

Thank You Arturo Moreno 

[daygloman]

Thank you Moreno...

I have become cynical the past several seasons. 

Much obliged for this acquisition. 

 

GO HALOS!

[Dave Saltzer]

14 minutes ago, daygloman said:

Thank you Moreno...

I have become cynical the past several seasons. 

Much obliged for this acquisition. 

 

GO HALOS!

In today's world, it's easy to get cynical. No doubt about that. That's one of the good thing about the holiday season--it gives us time to make a pause, reflect, think about what's good in life and get away from that negativity.

 

But, I really believe Arte on his twin goals of winning a WS and raising the bar for our franchise. The two go hand in hand. He's worked hard to raise the trajectory, now all we need is the WS. We are lucky to have him as an owner. He's like Autry was in the good years, but done a much better job at permanently altering our franchise for the better.

[zenmaster]

I shall never use his name in vain again.

[Ohtaniland]

Thank you @Tank

 

[AngelsWin.com]

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

Angels fans, what a day! We just pulled off the best signing of the offseason. From the 30-team derby, we emerged as the finalist and signed Shohei Ohtani. If you don’t know who that is by now, check your internet connection.

Every baseball team wanted him. Every baseball team could use him. We needed him. And we got him.

It’s hard to imagine for younger fans, but there was a long period of time when the Angels didn’t get players of this caliber. There was a time when we were an afterthought for a player or agent. When all else had been exhausted, or a star wanted to extend his career by a year or two, maybe he’d come to the Angels. We didn’t get young, in their prime players, especially international players. We didn’t beat out the likes of the Yankees, Dodgers, or Red Sox when it came to signing talent.

Sure, we had some splashes. When Gene Autry ran the team, especially in the late ’70s and early ’80s, he made some splashes. And, we made it to the playoffs three times from ’79-’86. But, we never seemed to sustain it. And, after the ’86 season, Gene’s interest and commitment seemed to taper off. By the ’90s, when Jackie Autry was running the team, we had shrunk to a “small market” team. We were on a downhill trajectory, and at one point, were in danger of contraction.

When Disney bought the team, they didn’t seem to know what to do with it. They tried to make it more “Disneyish” with periwinkle uniforms and cheerleaders. But, they also wanted to run it as a stand-alone enterprise, capped their spending, and never really integrated it into their overall corporate enterprise. The one time they made a big splash, Mo Vaughn, he fell on his first play of his first game in the visitor’s dugout. Needless to say, it didn’t work out well for us, or him, and we were still an afterthought until 2002.

When Arte Moreno came along, he had a plan of what he wanted to do with the Angels organization. As he told us at our Spring Training Fanfest, he wanted raise the overall trajectory of the Angels. He wanted to raise our overall profile and our floor so that we would be a West Coast championship team now and forever. He didn’t see us as a small market team–he saw us as a large market, and then took steps to achieve that. He didn’t want to win just one World Series, he wanted us to compete for the World Series every year.

For younger Angels fans, it’s hard to imagine what it was like before. While there are many similarities between Arte and Gene (both strike/struck me as handshake individuals where their word was their bond, and both struck me as guys who really care about the fans and want to win), Arte has done what Gene never did–he raised the franchise’s profile and made us a large market team.  He’s raised our budget year after year, raised our brand, and made us a series player in overall scheme of baseball. He didn’t just do splashes, he committed to the team for the long haul.

And today, Mr. Moreno did it again. He took us from a large market team to a global market team. It is truly hard to put an estimate on how much signing Shohei Ohtani raises our global recognition, but needless to say, besides having the best player in the game with Mike Trout, we just signed the premiere player from Japan, who may just become one of the best players in the game. And, we didn’t do it after he reached his prime–we got Ohtani for the prime of his career! The Los Angeles Angels will be known and seen worldwide, and we will have fans everywhere.

While we will never know all the details that led to us signing Shohei Ohtani, there’s one thing that I do know–Arte Moreno was involved in this. When we signed Albert Pujols, one of the comments that Albert made was that he liked his meeting with the Morenos (both Arte and his wife) and how comfortable the Morenos made them feel. At the press conference for Josh Hamilton, he too made the same comment. The only time I ever heard players talk about the owner liked that was when I talked with old-time Angels players who would reminisce about playing for the Cowboy, and how much they enjoyed his passion.

As much as Billy Eppler, our GM, deserves credit for making this deal happen, and many other anonymous people in the front office, I firmly believe that having Arte as our owner made a big difference. It was his salesmanship, his vision for the franchise, his passion for the team that gave us our best shot at landing Ohtani. He combined the best of Autry with his own long-term desire for a championship organization to put us in a position to make this signing ahppen.

Think about it: if you were a player like Ohtani, would you want to do with a corporate front office or a passionate owner? If you could pick from any Major League team, wouldn’t you want an owner who is as much a fan of the team as the people in the stands? I know I would. And I know Arte Moreno is that kind of owner.

Angels fans, today was a great signing. With one move, Arte just raised our franchise’s trajectory again, and in a very positive way. The offseason isn’t even over, and we have infinitely improved our team for now and forever. No matter what happens on the field, we are very lucky that we have him as our owner. And, thanks to him, we now have Ohtani on our team.

It’s a great time to be an Angels fan.

View the full article

[Chuck]

Great article, @Dave Saltzer!

I would add, thank you Billy Eppler. He's undoubtedly a much better GM than Dipoto. 

[Docwaukee]

Nice article Dave.  

Here's a thought.  Eppler has been cultivating Ohtani since he was in high school ie since the time he was in the Yanks org.  

Dipoto wanted the halos to have more of an international presence including Asia but Arte didn't let him.  Thus Dipoto wasn't able to establish trust with Shohei.  

Arte therefore sabotaged the Mariners from getting Ohtani.  

[Dave Saltzer]

I think we need to add today to our AngelsWin.com Top 50 Moments in Angels history. This is truly a franchise altering event. The question is, how big is it and where should it be ranked? @Chuckster70, where would you place it?

[eligrba]

Thanks Arte.

Would not have happened without you.

And, for the record, I was with you on getting rid of that piece of shit Hamilton and trying to void his contract....what a dick.

[Troll Daddy]

[Dave Saltzer]

Can we merge this with the other thread on the formal article that I wrote? 

[Tank]

7 hours ago, OHTANILAND said:

Thank you @Tank

 

You're welcome. Just doing my part for the team.

btw, I'm willing to hold one of the letters of your new sign next season.

[Tank]

Btw, since I'm sure you're all wondering, at our lunch together yesterday, Ohtani had Angels food cake.

[IEAngelsfan]

Just now, Tank said:

Btw, since I'm sure you're all wondering, at our lunch together yesterday, Ohtani had Angels food cake.

I stand corrected.  The Geisha outfit was a hit!

[Tank]

17 minutes ago, IEAngelsfan said:

I stand corrected.  The Geisha outfit was a hit!

There are always some parts of the negotiating process that the public is not privy to. This will be one of those.

 

btw, I'll return the geisha outfit to you next week, but I'm keeping the white face makeup.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Tank

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Man you guys must have sore jaws and scratchy throats from all this deep throating.  

All that’s been done here is put ink to paper. 

A single pitch or PA hasn’t occurred.  Quit goblin up Arte’s jugo.  

[Angel Oracle]

Tank, you can always borrow one of WWE’s Asuka’s white masks.