LA Times: Owner Arte Moreno willing to take blame for Angels' slow start

[AngelsWin.com]

The jobs of Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto are safe for now, he also says.

Arte Moreno has placed blame for the team's brutal 2013 start, its failure to make the playoffs for three straight years and several high-priced moves that have paid minimal dividends on the one person the Angels owner can't fire:

View the full article

[YouthofToday]

Kudos to Arte. Wise to keep the interview "in-house" with a media site he partially owns too.

[mp170.6]

Moreno is sounding more and more like a car salesman.

 

He hooks you in the beginning with his charm and big promises, then reneges when it matters most and refuses to fix things when your deal completely falls apart. 

[Angel Oracle]

Let's start with the basics Arte.

This is a farm system. You use it to a) build a team, fill in holes when players go on the DL and NOT have to rely on garbage like Enright and Lowe, and c) use SOME not ALL of your prospects to acquire solid players and NOT older and not very good players.

These are foreign players. They are also used to do a) through c) above.

There will be a test.

[AngelsFaninGA]

Playing the blame game gets us nowhere at this point. Who cares whose fault it is, just work on fixing it. 

[Hollyw00d]

It's going to be hard to fix 10 years 250 million and 5years 125 million.

Arte has no one to blame except himself for those two massive failures

[etex211]

We're stuck with Jerry Jones down here in northeast Texas.  He tries to play the part of GM, too.  It sucks.

[Lifetime]

Arte isn't and hasn't been playing the part of GM. He has the final say in all deals. He believes in a business family philosophy that extends from the field to the front office. He likes to get involved in the wooing of big FA because he feels it's a good marketing method to sell his organization as a good destination. He does not force the hand of the GM or dictate what players to sign. All he is saying here is, he's the owner and ultimately the buck stops at his desk. 

[NJHalo]

Lets face it, if Pujols and then Hamilton just produced to their career averages, we wouldn't be having this conversation

[Lifetime]

I still think Hamilton was the wrong decision based on the needs of the team even if he was producing 

[Lhalo]

Agreed. Pitching should have been the main focus.

[stormngt]

Lets face it, if Pujols and then Hamilton just produced to their career averages, we wouldn't be having this conversation

true

[Brandon Wing]

Lets face it, if Pujols and then Hamilton just produced to their career averages, we wouldn't be having this conversation

Looking at Albert over the last five years, career average isn't going to happen, and it's best if we just accept the fact that the decline is real and it's not going to get better. 

         

          AVG/OBP/HR

2008 .357/.462/ 37

2009 .327/.443/ 47

2010 .312/.414/ 42

2011 .299/.366/ 37

2012 .285/.343/ 30

[mulwin444]

Yeah, Arte is a "snake-oil salesman" who has only pursued the top free agents the past couple of years after hearing for years he's not willing to do what it takes to do just that - attract the best talent.  What is he thinking keeping his payroll equivalent to the market his team plays in and trying to maximize his investments marketing potential. 

 

I didn't like the Pujols or Hamilton signings but, come on, how is this his fault?  If both of these two suck-holes would even approach what they've been capable of in previous seasons, the season is a little brighter.  I don't think they'd be at .500 because the real issue is the SP+BP but the games would be a hell of a lot more exciting.

[yk9001]

Yeah, Arte is a "snake-oil salesman" who has only pursued the top free agents the past couple of years after hearing for years he's not willing to do what it takes to do just that - attract the best talent.  What is he thinking keeping his payroll equivalent to the market his team plays in and trying to maximize his investments marketing potential. 

 

I didn't like the Pujols or Hamilton signings but, come on, how is this his fault?  If both of these two suck-holes would even approach what they've been capable of in previous seasons, the season is a little brighter.  I don't think they'd be at .500 because the real issue is the SP+BP but the games would be a hell of a lot more exciting.

 

Arte's job is to provide the fans with a winner.  Its his responsibility to have a framework and a direction and an overall plan for the long term of the franchise.  "has only pursued the top free agents the past couple of years after hearing for years he's not willing to do what it takes to do just that" sounds like a terrible plan.  It sounds like you are making big, expensive reactions because of media or fan criticisms.

[Lhalo]

Arte's job is to provide the fans with a winner.  Its his responsibility to have a framework and a direction and an overall plan for the long term of the franchise.  "has only pursued the top free agents the past couple of years after hearing for years he's not willing to do what it takes to do just that" sounds like a terrible plan.  It sounds like you are making big, expensive reactions because of media or fan criticisms.

Arte's job is to run a profitable business. It's Dipoto's job to "provide the fans with a winner."

[bloodbrother]

Lets face it, if Pujols and then Hamilton just produced to their career averages, we wouldn't be having this conversation

 

True, but when you sign players on the wrong side of 30, it's kind of hard to expect them to put up their career averages for the duration of the contract. Halos are signing these guys who are starting their decline phase.

[HaloHonkHenry]

Zach Greinke looked pretty good last night giving up only 1 earned run. Sure would be nice to have him in our rotation still. I think the Greinke contract would have been much smarter money spent for this ball club than Blanton, Madsen, Hamilton.

[yk9001]

True, but when you sign players on the wrong side of 30, it's kind of hard to expect them to put up their career averages for the duration of the contract. Halos are signing these guys who are starting their decline phase.

 

In fact, it was even mention when the Angels signed Pujols that he was in his decline phase.  The common thought was that the decline would be slow.

 

 

A ten year contract.

[Brandon]

He's right, but it won't suffice for the numbnutz here to continually post about cleaning house. Arte really put his neck on the line with the big name free agents to bring a perennial contender here but they are letting him down.

[Angel Oracle]

Whoever it is, Arte or JeDi, someone needs to ensure that our scouts are as good as any in the game.

Do that, and open up foreign scouting, and only then will we not be acquiring so many wrong players.

 

Just follow the Cardinals' model for success!

[mulwin444]

Arte's job is to provide the fans with a winner.  Its his responsibility to have a framework and a direction and an overall plan for the long term of the franchise.  "has only pursued the top free agents the past couple of years after hearing for years he's not willing to do what it takes to do just that" sounds like a terrible plan.  It sounds like you are making big, expensive reactions because of media or fan criticisms.

It's Arte's job to provide the resources for a winner, he's hired other people to use those resources to find winning pieces.  The GM's job, along with minor league director and Manager, is to develop a plan and execute.  I'm sure Arte feels a responsibility to provide a winner and has done what he could to try to accomplish this goal.  When he took over at the end of 2003, he signed Vlad, Colon, Gullen and Escobar which set the groundwork for multiple playoff appearance from 2004-2009, including three consecutive division title.  I'm sure a part of his recent signings were trying to re-capture this momentum, ill-advised as it may be.  The fact is we have an owner to commit significant resources to put a winner on the field, not many teams in the MLB can make this claim.  It's debatable as to whether those resources were committed correctly, so hopefully he learns from those mistakes.

[yk9001]

It's Arte's job to provide the resources for a winner, he's hired other people to use those resources to find winning pieces.  The GM's job, along with minor league director and Manager, is to develop a plan and execute.  I'm sure Arte feels a responsibility to provide a winner and has done what he could to try to accomplish this goal.  When he took over at the end of 2003, he signed Vlad, Colon, Gullen and Escobar which set the groundwork for multiple playoff appearance from 2004-2009, including three consecutive division title.  I'm sure a part of his recent signings were trying to re-capture this momentum, ill-advised as it may be.  The fact is we have an owner to commit significant resources to put a winner on the field, not many teams in the MLB can make this claim.  It's debatable as to whether those resources were committed correctly, so hopefully he learns from those mistakes.

 

 

Who's the chick in your sig photo?

[mulwin444]

Who's the chick in your sig photo?

Jane McLean...she's a hottie

[mp170.6]

I still think Hamilton was the wrong decision based on the needs of the team even if he was producing 

 

We actually agree on something!

 

The part I hated from the get go was the possibility that Pujols and Hamilton might BOTH be unable to play the field at the back end of Hamilton's deal. The two of them will cost $55 million in 2016 and $56 million in 2017.  So we're looking at the possibility of two part-time DH's unless Moreno wants to eat more cash.

 

The Angels lost money last year for crying out loud.  If their reckless pursuit of free agents continues, this team's best days are likely behind us.