Latest on Angels sale

[Pancake Bear]

Dude is legit. Rosenthal and numerous other writers follow him. Susan Slusser retweeted this. He later posted more info in an article:

https://undertheknife.substack.com/p/utk-short-123122?sd=pf

Relevant info:

"The Angels have several bidders. Patrick Seong-Shoon, who owns a piece of the Lakers, a hospital system, and the LA Times is leading one group. A Japanese consortium is funding another and wants a good front man. At least one group from minority Dodgers owners is circling a bid, if not actually making one. There’s some smaller characters around, but this is following the typical pattern. They’d like to select one ownership group well ahead of the season due to the unique Shohei Ohtani situation. Sign him, trade him, it needs to be dealt with relatively quickly."

And later, 

"We’ll see how both these situations play out, but I expect the Angels to be first, perhaps getting to a preferred bidder ahead of spring training."

[Warfarin]

5 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Dude is legit. Rosenthal and numerous other writers follow him. Susan Slusser retweeted this. He later posted more info in an article:

https://undertheknife.substack.com/p/utk-short-123122?sd=pf

Relevant info:

"The Angels have several bidders. Patrick Seong-Shoon, who owns a piece of the Lakers, a hospital system, and the LA Times is leading one group. A Japanese consortium is funding another and wants a good front man. At least one group from minority Dodgers owners is circling a bid, if not actually making one. There’s some smaller characters around, but this is following the typical pattern. They’d like to select one ownership group well ahead of the season due to the unique Shohei Ohtani situation. Sign him, trade him, it needs to be dealt with relatively quickly."

And later, 

"We’ll see how both these situations play out, but I expect the Angels to be first, perhaps getting to a preferred bidder ahead of spring training."

Nice find!  "Plus a stadium announcement" - I am assuming this is in reference to us?  Or is this a club that isn't one of the two for sale?

[BTH]

6 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Nice find!  "Plus a stadium announcement" - I am assuming this is in reference to us?  Or is this a club that isn't one of the two for sale?

Seems like the stadium announcement would probably be about the D-Backs, based on his article.

[Warfarin]

What kind of owner would Patrick Seong-Shoon be, I wonder?  Will he spend more than Arte does in terms of investing in all aspects of the team?

He is the name that has consistently been out there, so I would imagine he is at least considered a front-runner.

[Pancake Bear]

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

What kind of owner would Patrick Seong-Shoon be, I wonder?

Keep his nutcase daughter far away from the team.

[Warfarin]

3 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Keep his nutcase daughter far away from the team.

Don't know anything about her.  What has she done?

[jordan]

I gotta think that any new owner would want to keep Ohtani.  Only makes sense to keep him.  

[Pancake Bear]

3 minutes ago, jordan said:

I gotta think that any new owner would want to keep Ohtani.  Only makes sense to keep him.  

That's why I think they're fast-tracking the sale. It's also why I think there's a 90% chance (imo) Ohtani isn't going anywhere. Unless Ohtani is dead set on leaving - which I'd think Moreno would know by now, in which case they wouldn't be fast-tracking the sale - any new owners wouldn't want their first move to be to let Ohtani go. They must be aware of roughly how much it'll take and all potential owners must be willing to pay it or they wouldn't be rushing the sale. 

[Taylor]

I agree that a faster sale probably means good news for keeping Ohtani. And an owner who's willing to keep Ohtani is an owner who's willing to spend.

[Warfarin]

7 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

That's why I think they're fast-tracking the sale. It's also why I think there's a 90% chance (imo) Ohtani isn't going anywhere. Unless Ohtani is dead set on leaving - which I'd think Moreno would know by now, in which case they wouldn't be fast-tracking the sale - any new owners wouldn't want their first move to be to let Ohtani go. They must be aware of roughly how much it'll take and all potential owners must be willing to pay it or they wouldn't be rushing the sale. 

Not to be pessimistic, but what if Moreno is fast-tracking the sale because he knows (or is concerned) that Ohtani is leaving, and wants the sale to go through before that happens?  Given how few sports franchises there are in general, and how much value they seem to have, I can't imagine any new prospective owner would make the sale contingent on having a certain player, even one as marketable and valuable as Ohtani.

[Pancake Bear]

11 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Not to be pessimistic, but what if Moreno is fast-tracking the sale because he knows (or is concerned) that Ohtani is leaving, and wants the sale to go through before that happens?  Given how few sports franchises there are in general, and how much value they seem to have, I can't imagine any new prospective owner would make the sale contingent on having a certain player, even one as marketable and valuable as Ohtani.

I can't see that at all. 

[Pancake Bear]

14 minutes ago, Taylor said:

I agree that a faster sale probably means good news for keeping Ohtani. And an owner who's willing to keep Ohtani is an owner who's willing to spend.

Right. If they're willing to spend on Ohtani, it means they're comfortable going over the luxury tax because Ohtani won't have interest in signing while the team cuts payroll elsewhere. He can get money somewhere else from a team committed to winning. 

So, the fact that they're pushing this forward now means all interested parties are ready and willing to spend with the big boys. Which also means that in the highly unlikely scenario that Ohtani does walk, there will still be money to build a winner. 

[Chuck]

Damn. He's got the money, let's go! 

[BTH]

This is my concern with Soon-Shiong:

“Those who have worked for Soon-Shiong say his focus is fleeting and that he can be impulsive. He is frequently tied to other ventures (he owns the San Diego Union-Tribune and his name has popped up as a potential buyer of the Los Angeles Angels). With so many initiatives and commitments, he often parachutes into newspaper matters, usually with sweeping proposals for moving the business forward or coverage priorities to emphasize.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/18/la-times-tension-patrick-soon-shiong-00056601

If he doesn’t parachute into the Angels baseball operations, then I think he’d be a fine owner. Him being “frequently tied to other ventures” doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as he stays completely out of the way and hires a competent PBO to lead the baseball ops group.

[Pancake Bear]

7 minutes ago, Trendon said:

This is my concern with Soon-Shiong:

“Those who have worked for Soon-Shiong say his focus is fleeting and that he can be impulsive. He is frequently tied to other ventures (he owns the San Diego Union-Tribune and his name has popped up as a potential buyer of the Los Angeles Angels). With so many initiatives and commitments, he often parachutes into newspaper matters, usually with sweeping proposals for moving the business forward or coverage priorities to emphasize.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/18/la-times-tension-patrick-soon-shiong-00056601

If he doesn’t parachute into the Angels baseball operations, then I think he’d be a fine owner. Him being “frequently tied to other ventures” doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as he stays completely out of the way and hires a competent PBO to lead the baseball ops group.

Yeah, he wouldn't be my first choice. All of them have money and are likely to spend. I don't want another Moreno type owner. 

"A Japanese consortium is funding another and wants a good front man" - This one looks more interesting to me, since maybe Ohtani would be more likely to stick around with them, and maybe they bring in a Theo Epstein along with them. 

[Angel Oracle]

32 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Yeah, he wouldn't be my first choice. All of them have money and are likely to spend. I don't want another Moreno type owner. 

"A Japanese consortium is funding another and wants a good front man" - This one looks more interesting to me, since maybe Ohtani would be more likely to stick around with them, and maybe they bring in a Theo Epstein along with them. 

Just as long as they don’t run the Halos the way Nintendo ran the Mariners.

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, Pancake Bear said:

Keep his nutcase daughter far away from the team.

Agreed completely. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Second Base

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

This is my concern with Soon-Shiong:

“Those who have worked for Soon-Shiong say his focus is fleeting and that he can be impulsive. He is frequently tied to other ventures (he owns the San Diego Union-Tribune and his name has popped up as a potential buyer of the Los Angeles Angels). With so many initiatives and commitments, he often parachutes into newspaper matters, usually with sweeping proposals for moving the business forward or coverage priorities to emphasize.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/18/la-times-tension-patrick-soon-shiong-00056601

If he doesn’t parachute into the Angels baseball operations, then I think he’d be a fine owner. Him being “frequently tied to other ventures” doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as he stays completely out of the way and hires a competent PBO to lead the baseball ops group.

He parachuted into the Lakers big time and the results haven't been good. I think he'd be Arte Moreno with more money. Could be a good thing or a bad thing. 

The Japanese contingent could be interesting.

[jsnpritchett]

I've said this before when Soon-Shiong's name came up, but I really hope it's not him. 

[TempeAngel]

2 hours ago, Pancake Bear said:

Keep his nutcase daughter far away from the team.

Don't know anything about her. Why do you think she is a nutcase?

[jsnpritchett]

6 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

Don't know anything about her. Why do you think she is a nutcase?

Read the Politico article that was linked to earlier in this thread for taste of why she (and her father) can be problematic. 

[Erstad Grit]

4 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Nice find!  "Plus a stadium announcement" - I am assuming this is in reference to us?  Or is this a club that isn't one of the two for sale?

As and Rays need a new stadium

[Warfarin]

8 hours ago, Pancake Bear said:

Right. If they're willing to spend on Ohtani, it means they're comfortable going over the luxury tax because Ohtani won't have interest in signing while the team cuts payroll elsewhere. He can get money somewhere else from a team committed to winning. 

So, the fact that they're pushing this forward now means all interested parties are ready and willing to spend with the big boys. Which also means that in the highly unlikely scenario that Ohtani does walk, there will still be money to build a winner. 

So my comment wasn't really related to money.  I have no doubt that whoever the owner is will be willing to offer Ohtani the largest contract in MLB history.  But what if he wants to leave regardless, even if the Angels make him the greatest contract ever?

Anyway - I see the "fast-tracking" of the sale more as Moreno's style of operations, as opposed to something tied directly to Ohtani.  I can't really know for sure, but it seems like we always operated quickly in free agency, and that Moreno typically employed a "take it or leave it" style to hasten negotiations.  He famously pulled out of the Stripling/Peterson trade when it took too long.  I think this is just his normal style of negotiating and sales.

I am hopeful Ohtani will take the offer to stay, but I am not positive that things being fast-tracked has anything to do with the likelihood that Ohtani stays.

[Warfarin]

It seems PSS (going to go by this, just easier to type) is the name tossed around the most.  That doesn't mean he will win a bid of any kind, but it appears he is the most visible name.

What are some of the negative issues that have popped up with his involvement with the Lakers?  I don't follow basketball too closely, so I'm not really familiar with his involvement with the Lakers.

Is there any idea of how willing he would be to spend a ton of money on this team?  Sure, as referenced by @Chuckster70, he is enormously wealthy, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll spend money.  I'm hopeful, but again, I just don't really know much about him.

 

[HaloBronco]

10 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Damn. He's got the money, let's go! 

Unfortunately looking at how the the LA Times is ran, I’m worried the team would be ran the same way. 
 

Very concerned about that.