For the Angels, it is time for Perry Minasian's signature signing

If there is one thing that is true about Angels' owner Arte Moreno, it is that he absolutely loves bringing in exceptionally talented position players to sell jerseys, fill seats, and (sometimes) win games. Every general manager or president of baseball operations that has run Moreno's front office has had their siganture move.

Bill Stoneman signed Vladimir Guerrero, who immediately went on to win MVP and is the only Angels representative in the Hall of Fame. Tony Reagins acquired outfielder Torii Hunter. He was eventually replaced by Jerry Dipoto, who immediately went on to sign Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson to give Halo fans one of the best moments of the 2010's. Billy Eppler brought in Shohei Ohtani, Andrelton Simmons, Justin Upton, and, of course, Anthony Rendon (who is finally being bought out in Anaheim).

And now, there is Perry Minasian.

Now is the time for Angels to give Perry Minasian his signature moment

After finally being free of the Rendon contract, Minasian is no longer hamstrung by one of the worst contracts in major league history. There are no details of just how much money this frees up, but the expectation is that the Angels - if they wanted to maintain their Opening Day payroll from last season - have as much money as needed to pursue any free agent left on the market. Now, odds are they are not going to go on and sign Kyle Tucker, but if they wanted to add one of the top starters after a series of small moves, they very well could.

And why not give Minasian the freedom to pursue that? Rather than go around the Nolan Arenado merry-go-round all offseason, why not go and sign Eugenio Suarez or even an Alex Bregman level of free agent? This team has pieces on the roster that show a quality squad building up to contention (Zach Neto, Jose Soriano, Jo Adell), but also has players that are only going to slow down each passing season (Yusei Kikuchi, Mike Trout).

If ownership is going to decide to try to win games, giving Minasian the freedom to genuinely pursue a prime free agent is a must. Every other general manager in Arte Moreno's history as owner of the Angels has had the chance to make the signing that would define their time as general manager. For some, it made their legacy golden. For others, it cast a shadow over all the smaller good they did running the front office in Anaheim.

And now, it is time for Perry Minasian to be allowed to sink or swim.