Arte Moreno would rather handcuff Angels than give Dodgers fans their dream reunion

The Angels are currently listening to offers on their rentals ahead of the July 31st trade deadline, with those players on expiring contracts in question being Kenley Jansen, Tyler Anderson, Yoán Moncada and Luis Rengifo (technically Kyle Hendricks is too, but his name never gets brought up). Angels general manager Perry Minasian could theoretically position his team as both buyers and sellers in the coming days by extracting some value in return for the rentals while also pushing a few chips in to make a run at ending the longest active postseason drought in baseball. The more likely scenario is Minasian offloads a rental or two, maybe even Taylor Ward, and goes full sell-mode before telling fans he still believes in this group.

A name that's trending in the baseball community lately is Kenley Jansen, as the closer market is drying up quickly due to unforeseen circumstances. Baltimore's Félix Bautista and Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase are effectively off the trade block, with Bautista succumbing to injury and Clase getting placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as MLB investigates his potential role in a gambling scandal. Jansen is now left in a bucket of established closers that could be dealt alongside Pittsburgh's David Bednar, Minnesota's Jhoan Duran, San Diego's Robert Suarez, St. Louis' Ryan Helsley and Tampa Bay's Pete Fairbanks.

Many, many teams could use a closer like Jansen, who is in the middle of yet another stellar campaign as the Angels' 9th inning stopper. One of them is the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Tanner Scott and Michael Kopech are currently injured, Kirby Yates and Ben Casparius are serving up hits over-and-over again and the Dodgers are trying out Joe Kelly because they are so desperate for relievers. The Dodgers have invested more money into their bullpen than any other team in baseball thus making them reticent to shell out any of their six top-100 prospects in return for yet another reliever. An obtainable (in theory) short-term option like Jansen makes a lot of sense for them.

The 37-year-old last pitched for the Dodgers in 2021, and Dodgers fans would welcome Jansen back with open arms -- he would don an LA baseball cap if he one day gets enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Well, Arte Moreno is not going to let Dodgers fans have a heartfelt reunion anytime soon.

Arte Moreno would rather handcuff Angels than give Dodgers fans their dream reunion

Per Robert Murray on FanSided's Baseball Insiders Podcast: "I've seen a lot of people speculate that Kenley Jansen could be a fit for the Dodgers. I feel like it is more likely that hell freezes over than Arte Moreno deals with the Dodgers. I can't see him doing it...I can't see Arte Moreno dealing with the Dodgers. I could be wrong, but I feel like I have an idea of what Arte's like and I can't picture him doing that."

Murray cited Moreno's impatience and ultimate dismissal of a Joc Pederson, Ross Stripling and Andy Pages for Luis Rengifo and two unnamed prospects trade that occurred back in 2020. The Dodgers were acquiring Mookie Betts from Boston and needed to offload payroll in order to do so. In what would have been an absolute win for the Halos, Moreno's emotionality took reign and he made Billy Eppler pull the plug on that transaction. Well, Moreno is meddling and incredibly flawed in his tenure as Angels owner and he showed his true colors by backing out of that deal.

Angels fans might take some joy in denying the Dodgers something they covet, but ultimately not kicking the tires on a Jansen-to-LAD trade is petty and short-sighted. First off, the Dodgers will just easily pivot elsewhere else for a reliever. Secondly, Minasian would not have been able to acquire anybody like Dalton Rushing, Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Alex Freeland, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota or Jackson Ferris in any semblance of a Jansen trade, but he might have been able to reel in one of the many talented youngsters in that pipeline.

PSA: Arte, the Red Sox and Yankees make trades. Franchises whose fanbases hate one another still make trades. The Dodgers barely think about the Angels, stop meddling with the front office and taking potential trades off the table because you're trifling and spiteful!

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