ESPN: On Shohei Ohtani, the urgency that surrounds this year’s Angels, the uncertainty thereafter, and Arte Moreno’s place in all of it …

[Chuck]

There is a palpable sense of urgency that surrounds the Angels this year, perhaps unlike any other before it. As if time is running out. As if what's next is too unnerving to confront. As if an ominous tipping point has been reached.

It's hard not to consider Arte Moreno's place in all of it. The latter half of his two-decade-plus reign as the Angels' owner has been marked by impulsive decisions that, when coupled with bad drafts and poor acquisitions by his general managers, compromised sustainability and helped squander the prime years of two of baseball's defining figures, according to more than a dozen people employed by him in various capacities during that stretch. His competitiveness has been admired, but many believe it has also hindered. And his actions over the past 12 months -- a period in which he invested in the present more heavily than ever before, all while entertaining the sale of his franchise and the potential trade of its most valuable asset -- have only raised the stakes.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38192608/mlb-2023-angels-future-shohei-ohtani-arte-moreno

[jsnpritchett]

Thanks for posting this, Chuck. I just came here to do the same.  It's a lengthy article, but well-written and definitely worth a read. 

This part at the end got to me.  Trout trying not to face the possibility that Ohtani leaves and holding out hope it'll work out. 

"But Ohtani's free agency beckons.

"I'm trying not to look ahead like that," Trout said, "but it's gonna become a reality, obviously, in the offseason when that last game is played and he becomes a free agent. I haven't really thought about what it's gonna be like without him because I hope he comes back."

[Duren, Duren]

I was going to link this too. A pretty good overview. Especially the mindsets around the deadline. Interesting comments from some players.

It's just too bad that Arte had to be so proactive. If you have faith in the  front office people you hired then give them a budget, let them follow a plan and get out of the way. The budget may need tweaking because of special  circumstances during the season, but let the baseball people evaluate players and prospects  and think long term. Restricting them to a win now objective is a risk with poor odds for any organization.

Ohtani's pending free agency has really messed up conventional team construction and planning. This one year boom or bust approach deviates so much from normal baseball operations. 

[BTH]

I love this paragraph. You start reading it and think there’s some intel, and it turns into a giant shrug emoji.

No one knows what Arte will do.

Some close to Moreno believe he might consider selling the team again if the season continues to spiral and Ohtani heads elsewhere this offseason. Others think that he might take on a minority owner whose stake in the franchise increases over time, a proposition a source said he dismissed earlier this year. Or that he's waiting to finally strike a deal for the ballpark and its surrounding land, agreements the City of Anaheim walked away from twice in the span of a decade. Or that he'll continue to own the Angels in perpetuity.

[BTH]

18 minutes ago, Duren, Duren said:

I was going to link this too. A pretty good overview. Especially the mindsets around the deadline. Interesting comments from some players.

What bugs me is that there’s a quote from Sandoval and stuff (both in this article and others) about how the trades fired up the players, yet they played uninspired baseball out of the deadline.

After the first couple games vs. Seattle, it looked like the players gave up.

Ownership/the front office showed his faith in you guys, and you made them look like idiots.

[Blarg]

People are so quick to pull the, the team gave up mantra, when they lose but don't understand that is the same team that guts out a hard fought win. 

Nobody on the team wants to miss the playoffs. Nobody on the team wants to bat .180 when traded and sour their free agency suitors. Nobody on the team wants to go back to the minors or get cut. 

Nobody on the team has given up, they are just collectively not competitive. 

[Angels in 2030]

27 minutes ago, Blarg said:

People are so quick to pull the, the team gave up mantra, when they lose but don't understand that is the same team that guts out a hard fought win. 

Nobody on the team wants to miss the playoffs. Nobody on the team wants to bat .180 when traded and sour their free agency suitors. Nobody on the team wants to go back to the minors or get cut. 

Nobody on the team has given up, they are just collectively not competitive. 

agreed -- they simply are not good enough comparatively to the rest of the league.  It's been that way for several years -- and will continue to be that way for a few more years at least.  

[Angelsjunky]

I'm sure it's a good article, but I just can't bring myself to read it. It feels like scratching an itch bloody, again and again.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

People are so quick to pull the, the team gave up mantra, when they lose but don't understand that is the same team that guts out a hard fought win. 

Nobody on the team wants to miss the playoffs. Nobody on the team wants to bat .180 when traded and sour their free agency suitors. Nobody on the team wants to go back to the minors or get cut. 

Nobody on the team has given up, they are just collectively not competitive. 

Except Rendon

[Blarg]

15 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Except Rendon

Well, there's that. 

[Troutta here]

Here's CJ Wilson weighing in on one of the cheap things the Angels did behind the scenes:

https://twitter.com/str8edgeracer/status/1694086187194224903?s=20

[Troutta here]

[stormngt]

10 hours ago, Trendon said:

What bugs me is that there’s a quote from Sandoval and stuff (both in this article and others) about how the trades fired up the players, yet they played uninspired baseball out of the deadline.

After the first couple games vs. Seattle, it looked like the players gave up.

Ownership/the front office showed his faith in you guys, and you made them look like idiots.

Each Seattle loss was lost in the late innings.  I felt the team fought hard but had horrible luck.  However after that series sweep it seems like they have lost a lot of heart.

Edited August 23, 2023 by stormngt

[yamsi12]

2 hours ago, Troutta here said:

Pujols can buy his own treadmill let alone the whole company.

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

Each Seattle loss was lost in the kate innings.  I felt the team fought hard but had horrible luck.  However after that series sweep it seems like they have kost a lot of heart.

Kousy typos.

[SoCalDucksFan]

I had the opportunity to go with a group to last Saturday's games.

I declined, without hesitation.

I Refuse to attend another game while the team is owned by the current owner.  I Refuse to listen to Roger Lodge in the afternoon on the radio station he owns.

I despise him for so many reasons, only 1 of which is how he has ended up wasting the careers of 2 of this century's greatest baseball players, one of whom is weeks away from escaping, with the Angels getting Nothing in return.

It disgusts me that after he has decimated this Franchise, and left it in ruins, he's going to cash out, and make a huge profit on his investment, purely due to the fact that sports teams are commanding insane dollar amounts upon sale, regardless of how good they are.

[Blarg]

32 minutes ago, SoCalDucksFan said:

I had the opportunity to go with a group to last Saturday's games.

I declined, without hesitation.

I Refuse to attend another game while the team is owned by the current owner.  I Refuse to listen to Roger Lodge in the afternoon on the radio station he owns.

I despise him for so many reasons, only 1 of which is how he has ended up wasting the careers of 2 of this century's greatest baseball players, one of whom is weeks away from escaping, with the Angels getting Nothing in return.

It disgusts me that after he has decimated this Franchise, and left it in ruins, he's going to cash out, and make a huge profit on his investment, purely due to the fact that sports teams are commanding insane dollar amounts upon sale, regardless of how good they are.

Please feel no obligation to patronize a website dedicated to a team you are boycotting, we wouldn't want there to be a conflict of interests. 

[SoCalDucksFan]

8 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Please feel no obligation to patronize a website dedicated to a team you are boycotting, we wouldn't want there to be a conflict of interests. 

I say again to anybody who doesn't want to read my posts, PLEASE put me on Ignore.  Do it right now.  Then you won't have to read a word I say.

I Never said that I was boycotting the Angels.  I said I was boycotting their Owner.  I can watch them on TV without putting money in the owner's pocket via ticket sales.

I do happen to be a fan of Mike Trout, and having lived in O.C. since 1978, I have attended my share of games and supported the team for several decades now.

Pointing out what ownership has done to this Franchise is a whole lot different than actively rooting for them to lose, which you are basically insinuating with your comment.  As a Fan, I have the right to voice complaints, and point out the mistakes made my ownership and management.  My comments are tame compared to what a fan in New York would be saying right  now.  So sorry that I hurt your snowflake feelings with my criticism of this spectacular owner, who has brought so much success to the Angels franchise these past 2 decades.

[Blarg]

Your boycott isn't being heard by anyone in the front office, it's just you yelling at a cloud. Good luck with that.

[SoCalDucksFan]

19 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Your boycott isn't being heard by anyone in the front office, it's just you yelling at a cloud. Good luck with that.

I hardly think that any comment posted on this board is being heard by those in the front office.  And if they are, they're being ignored.

You know what will be heard by those in the front office?  Lack of ticket sales in 2024 after Ohtani goes bye bye.  I gather that there are a fair # of people attending games and buying Angels jerseys, who will no longer do so once he's playing for another team.

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, SoCalDucksFan said:

I hardly think that any comment posted on this board is being heard by those in the front office.  And if they are, they're being ignored.

You know what will be heard by those in the front office?  Lack of ticket sales in 2024 after Ohtani goes bye bye.  I gather that there are a fair # of people attending games and buying Angels jerseys, who will no longer do so once he's playing for another team.

They’ll average about 28-30k a game next year. Also who cares about jersey sales?

[tomsred]

Aren't jersey sales shared between all teams?

[SoCalDucksFan]

31 minutes ago, tomsred said:

Aren't jersey sales shared between all teams?

I've heard that too, although I find it surprising.

[cals]

4 hours ago, Blarg said:

Please feel no obligation to patronize a website dedicated to a team you are boycotting, we wouldn't want there to be a conflict of interests. 

Ha, look at the who’s who of winners who liked your post.  Let the dude vent, Blarg.

[Stradling]

4 hours ago, tomsred said:

Aren't jersey sales shared between all teams?

Yes. And the teams actually get a very small percent of all merchandise sales.