LA Angels owner Arte Moreno interest in selling team has been a long time coming

It was announced from the team that LA Angels owner Arte Moreno has expressed interest in selling the team. This comes after a botched deal that would have resulted in the team staying in Anaheim with Moreno purchasing the surrounding area of the stadium. It also comes when the team is underperforming once again and wondering about the direction of the team.

There should be no doubt that Moreno is a great business man and has built the franchise value up from once he bought it. However, this is a "what have you done for me lately?" business and a combination of bad free agent signings, lack of investing in development, and failing to bring the team to relevancy while they have Mike Trout on the team raises questions.

As the team looks to find a new owner, there are many things that new ownership can do to make the fans instantly fall back in love with their favorite team. Doing the opposite of what Moreno has done in the past would be a good start, but no one should forget that at the end of day, he knew how to bring up a great entertainment factor which is one of the reasons why the team is so profitable.

What comes next for the LA Angels?

It will probably be some time before a new owner comes around as the LA Angels are still in the season and it will more than likely come during the off-season. It comes with questions surrounding Shohei Ohtani and whether or not to trade him or extend him. There is no doubt that Ohtani would help replenish a barren farm system, but having Ohtani being part of the Angels long-term wouldn't be too bad either.

Raising the payroll would be another question that needs to get asked because while Moreno has slightly increased payroll over the years, it hasn't been by much. Extending Ohtani would certainly increase the payroll and bring the question of whether the new ownership wants the budget that top heavy? Having Trout, Rendon, and Ohtani making significant amounts of money would financially constrain new ownership if they are unwilling to go past the luxury tax which could be a problem.

Either way, new ownership would have a lot on their plate in terms of players, leadership, and finding a permanent home for the team. It is also unknown what person would be willing to immediately start spending in order to get Trout into a contending team again. That would also be contingent on whether Angels general manager, Perry Minasian, stays on to head the front office, something ownership would have to think about. Regardless of what happens, new ownership needs to be as hands off on decision making when it comes to acquiring players and development, something Moreno disregarded in the past.