Angels insider throws cold water on Arte Moreno signing off on Blake Snell pursuit

It is exceedingly rare that the Los Angeles Angels, or any team for that matter, have a chance to add a potential frontline starter this close to the start of the season. Blake Snell's free agent market has been anything but typical this offseason, however, and it is presenting the Angels with a fantastic opportunity at a position of need.

By all accounts, Snell is now looking to get a short-term, high AAV deal with opt-outs after Scott Boras' attempts to get him a lengthy free agent deal fell on deaf ears. Given that the Angels' rotation plans currently consist of a lot of crossing their fingers and hoping things work out, LA should absolutely be targeting Snell to give the team a chance to compete in a brutal AL West on a short-term deal while their player development changes take effect.

Unfortunately, any optimism that the Angels' front office would actually get the green light to get Snell has taken a big hit when beat writer Jeff Fletcher indicated that he has no reason to believe that owner Arte Moreno's spending plans for 2024 have changed at all, even with Snell still available.

Will Arte Moreno decide that the Angels adding Blake Snell would move the needle?

The one saving grace here is that Snell is high profile enough to get Moreno's attention. The embattled Angels owner previously revealed that he is expecting the Angels' payroll to decrease in 2024. The only question now is by how much does Moreno want to cut payroll? If he is willing to scale down the spending a little bit and still add Snell, everyone could end up winners.

The problem here is with Snell's position as a pitcher. No one should be arguing that adding Snell wouldn't make the Angels a strictly better team. While Snell has his warts as a pitcher (you are probably tired of hearing about his walk issues at this point), he is still the reigning NL Cy Young winner and has some of the best swing-and-miss stuff of any starter in all of baseball. For an Angels' rotation bereft of talent, the fit is a no-brainer.

However, Moreno has been historically averse to spending big money on pitchers. There is some wisdom to that, as pitchers are walking injury risks. Snell being willing to accept a short-term deal in the realm of $30-33 million a year lessens that risk considerably, but Moreno's preference for bats may still rule the day here.

Complicating the picture is that Snell's market is heating up now that his price has dropped, with the Giants being the betting favorites to land him at the moment and the Astros lurking in the background as well. If Moreno was already leery of signing a big-name pitcher, the Angels may not have much, if any, interest in getting into a bidding war over Snell this late in the game.

More LA Angels News from Halo Hangout