Arte Moreno was not an Albert Pujols fan towards the end of his Angels contract

To no one's surprise, another story of Arte Moreno causing confusion amongst his front office dropped. Despite the story being a "told to a guy who was told to another guy" type of deal, it rings incredibly true.

Essentially, Trevor May is reporting that Moreno made his top executives ignore the very real existence of Albert Pujols and his large salary figure...while in a budget meeting. It's not the most incriminating story, as it's smart to operate your team as if an aging veteran is not there when you are trying to put together a winning ballclub. They integrated players like Justin Bour and Jared Walsh as contigency plans while Pujols was still there. The Angels needed to work off the fact that Pujols was not going to contribute, and they did end up designating Pujols for assignment in 2021. It appears as if this meeting happened a couple years prior to waiving Pujols. The Angels utilized a similar strategy with Justin Upton in 2022.

The issue is, and has been for a while, that Moreno handcuffs his front office and how they handle their day-to-day business. May's video included a quote from a former Angels play-by-play announcer.

“At some point, you have to make a decision that’s different from what you’ve been making for the last 13 or 14 years because the same stuff that continues to happen to the organization on and off the field are really generated from the same people. What does it hurt to wipe the whiteboard down and start anew, something fresh?”

Moreno's meddling with the franchise has not worked, they have gone a decade without making the playoffs and just had their worst season ever. There is little hope on the horizon. Arte Moreno is making it seem as if Perry Minasian has carte blanche this offseason to build a winner in 2025, but Angels fans and MLB insiders know that Moreno has final say when it comes to decision-making. For example, if Minasian wants to bring in a player who will make the team exceed the luxury tax, Moreno will veto it. When Rojas says that the same stuff continues to happen, he means that Moreno himself making all the decisions for years is hurting the team and the Angels can no longer continue to operate with Moreno as the team's owner if they have expectations to win.

One can only imagine how Moreno feels when his staffers have to bring up Anthony Rendon.