ESPN senior baseball writer disparages the Angels and Arte Moreno over 2024 failures

Angels fans have long been frustrated with their favorite team, and their anger was recently justified on a national platform. ESPN's senior baseball writer, David Schoenfield, ranked "the top 10 fan bases who currently have the greatest right to be frustrated, factoring in teams' expectations coming into this past season, their 2024 performance and what they've done so far this offseason." He ranked Angels fans as the most aggrieved fan base in the entire sport.

Let's break it down. Did Angels fans have expectations heading into 2024? No. They lost Shohei Ohtani to their biggest rival, and nobody in their right mind believed the team was going to scrap together any semblance of a contender in his absence. OK, how about 2024 performance? 100%. They put together the worst unit in team history, amassing 99 losses and trotting out players who had no business being in the big leagues. What they have done this offseason? Well, it's hard to say signing Yusei Kikuchi, Travis d'Arnaud, Kevin Newman etc. and trading for Jorge Soler is a bad offseason. Landing Kikuchi felt like a minor miracle. In fact, many fans are pleased that Perry Minasian was active early and are still optimistic that he will address the holes in the infield and bullpen.

Schoenfield has previously discredited the Angels' offseason moves, more so because it was the Angels who were making them rather than the moves in a vacuum. There are certain teams that make moves, and nobody will praise them solely because that team made the move. The Angels are firmly in that camp now. So, even though part of Schoenfield's most aggrieved criteria was inactivity by the front office, he dinged the Angels' offseason because they are the Angels.

Angels fans' decade-long irritations were recognized and defended

The article is misleading, as Schoenfield is factoring in the Angels' past 10 seasons heavily but is not necessarily declaring that he is. He stated the criteria was mostly 2024 based but then immediately brought up how good the franchise was in the early 2000s and how bad they have been the past decade. 2024 wise -- Angels fans knew the team was going to stink. Much like Rockies and Marlins fans (to name a couple), the fanbase was well-aware of the "bad decisions, bad moves, bad player development and a whole bunch of losses" that Schoenfield brought up. The Ohtani-to-the-Dodgers frustration is carrying a lot of weight in his calculus, and rightfully so. However, to think that the terrible 2024 results were out of nowhere and this offseason is piling on Ls is misguided logic.

All this being said, if you as a fan feel validated in your perpetual state of aggravation, no one will blame you. What Schoenfield got right was his commentary on Arte Moreno, and the disillusionment of losing year-after-year even while rostering Ohtani and Mike Trout. Again, this is not a 2024 specific thing as he specified in the criteria, but he nailed the organization's complete fall from grace due to the owner's ever-present meddling. Angels fans are resigned to their team's misfortunes, and find it difficult to praise a transaction as most of the time those do not pan out whatsoever.

It's incredibly hard being an Angels fan. To carry on this perpetual state of agony, lack of hope, and constantly watching your team snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

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