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LA Angels: 3 people who are acting like a Grinch

By Evan Desai |
Jul 2, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno speaks during a press
Jul 2, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno speaks during a press / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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People attend the WFAN's Mike Francesa Summer Send-Off show at Bar Anticipation in Lake Como, NJ on
People attend the WFAN's Mike Francesa Summer Send-Off show at Bar Anticipation in Lake Como, NJ on / Peter Ackerman, Asbury Park Press via

As we go through holiday season, there are a lot of reasons for LA Angels fans--and everyone, to be happy.

That being said, there always has to be a Grinch. There always has to be someone who comes along and tries to hurt our game or our team specifically. Someone who tries to rain on everyone's parade.

These days, with the MLB lockout in place, there is quite a bit of rain on every teams' parade. Unfortunately, we won't have much going on with our great game, and we need to figure out how to navigate the future with these Grinches in place. Some, however, will be a Grinch regardless of the lockout or not:

No. 3 person who is acting like a Grinch towards the LA Angels: Mike Francesa

The LA Angels seem to be long-time New York radio host Mike Francesa's least-favorite team these days. One would think that a New York host's least-favorite team would be the Boston Red Sox, or the Atlanta Braves, or maybe the Houston Astros. Francesa's newfound hate for Noah Syndergaard has led him to spend lots of time lately criticizing our front-end starter.

Syndergaard has not taken this unnecessary criticism lightly, and has been firing back at Francesa:

Francesa tried firing back himself, but it didn't go as well as Syndergaard's next counterattack.

Francesa is obviously very wrong about Syndergaard, as the New York Mets have been significantly worse ever since he's been injured these past two years, and he's also wrong that he "ran away." Syndergaard was interested in staying with the Mets, but their front office wasn't doing what they needed to do in order to keep him.

Perhaps Francesa is upset that the Angels actually did their job here and brought a deserving pitcher in for the money he deserves. Francesa's problem says much more about him than us, so we won't let this Grinch steal Christmas.

Mar 24, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno at a press conference to
Mar 24, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno at a press conference to / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

No. 2 person who is acting like a Grinch towards the LA Angels: Arte Moreno

The LA Angels own owner, Arte Moreno, tends to act like a Grinch at this time of year.

He never spends as much as he can. We never are allowed to have fun in the offseason. His 2019 payroll was ninth in baseball, his 2020 payroll was 13th in baseball, and his 2021 payroll was seventh in baseball.

Sure enough, we're eighth in 2022 payroll right now.

Moreno is worth $3.6 billion, but he doesn't want to spend any more than the seventh-most in MLB, despite being in a market as massive as LA.

So far this offseason, Moreno has sat back and watched many other teams go out and take many starting pitchers that were seen as great fits for the Halos. He did sign Syndergaard, but his follow-up move was to sign an uninspiring Michael Lorenzen.

It's hard to blame all of this on GM Perry Minasian when we have seen a giant sample size of this team being cheap with Minasian not here, and with Moreno interfering with the budget with other GMs. Hopefully, Minasian will find a way to prevent Moreno from stealing Christmas again (if we're out of the lockout by then).

And that's another reason Minsian's been a Grinch. He's an owner, and MLB owners are more responsible than anyone for this lockout. Typical of Moreno, he is clearly being cheap when it comes to spending on baseball.

Oct 26, 2021; Houston, TX, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred before game one of the 2021 World
Oct 26, 2021; Houston, TX, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred before game one of the 2021 World / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1 person who is acting like a Grinch towards the LA Angels: Rob Manfred

Well, Rob Manfred is currently just as much of a Grinch as anyone is towards the LA Angels. Going through a lockout complicates the offseason plans for the Halos, and let me just say that the first lockout in decades isn't necessarily the greatest look for Manfred.

CBA negotiations should never get so sour to the point where the league has to shut down completely. Plenty of blame needs to fall on Manfred. It's no secret that team owners don't want to give up much of their money towards their teams, and Manfred should have focused on putting that to a halt.

Manfred has also seemed to not get the memo of the mess he created, as he just let the AL West rival Houston Astros sign a free agent during the lockout. This guy has become very unlikeable, and especially for Angels fans.

Next. 3 too-early Angels roster predictions. dark

Hopefully the lockout will be over soon. If not, it may feel like Manfred stole Christmas. The Halos have quite the opportunity to fix this mess, however, once the lockout resumes. Hopefully Moreno won't be so cheap, and hopefully Syndergaard's 2022 makes Francesa even more miserable.

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