LA Angels extremely excited by Arte Moreno’s major player development gesture

The Los Angeles Angels under owner Arte Moreno are not exactly known for player development success or innovation. There have been some success stories for sure, but the team has largely relied on adding big ticket free agent bats to generate buzz and, in theory, win more games.

Unfortunately, that strategy has been proven to be untenable. The lack of investment in the pitching staff as a whole is a huge reason why the Angels have fallen short in previous years despite having the two best players on planet Earth, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, on the roster. On top of that, the Angels' track record when it comes to developing prospects has largely been bad, especially when you look at their top picks from the last decade or so.

It seems like Moreno and the Angels have finally figured out that they need a shift in philosophy, as it was revealed that the Angels are going to be building new dedicated hitting and pitching labs to bolster their player development department. That is assuming Moreno actually follows through and lets it happen, but the signs are good so far.

LA Angels finally start transitioning to being a modern baseball team with new labs announcement

There is an important caveat here: the facilities themselves are not built YET, and given Moreno's propensity to nix facilities upgrades in the past, even Angels personnel are a bit skeptical at the moment. Until construction actually starts, there will be a certain amount of doubt that it will actually happen.

That said, this could be a huge difference-maker for the Angels if it actually comes to fruition. Most MLB teams have invested heavily in recent years in facilities that allow the team to measure countless biomechanical factors and process volumes of data to help their players make changes, adjust, understand what they do well and not-so-well, and ultimately make the organization strong. The Angels have stuck too long with the old school sledgehammer approach to roster building, so it is great to see that the team at least has a plan in place.

If the Angels do follow through with these plans, there will be two dedicated labs/tunnels for pitching data and three for hitting; all will be equipped with state-of-the-art data collection technologies. For an organization in desperate need of a new way of doing things to even hope to contend in the near future, this is at least a good start -- even if fans probably shouldn't hold their breath.

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