LA Times columnist exposes Rob Manfred for turning blind eye on Angels' Arte Moreno

At this point, it is abundantly clear that Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is not popular in many circles. Fans overwhelmingly disapprove of his tenure as owner and his relationship with the city of Anaheim continues to be fraught with drama regarding the sale of Angels Stadium falling through and the subsequent aftermath.

However, the vitriol towards Moreno has seemingly reached new heights as a column in the LA Times not only eviscerated Moreno anew, but took Rob Manfred to task for his inaction in dealing with the controversial owner.

LA Times blasts Angels owner Arte Moreno, holds Rob Manfred accountable

LA Times columnist Bill Shaikin made a pretty compelling case for MLB needing to do something about how the Angels are run under Moreno. He noted the Angels are in a huge media market and having a team and owner that is run so poorly and is so unpopular with fans threatens to hurt baseball's popularity overall. He isn't wrong.

Unfortunately, criticisms of Moreno continue to fall on deaf ears. Manfred himself was asked about Moreno's ownership of the team and his response was, "Arte, I think, has worked hard over the years to be as competitive as possible. He runs a fan-centric business operation in Anaheim. The results on the field are the results on the field.” At best, this is corporate speak to shield one of his own. At worst, every single part of his response was a bold-faced lie.

Moreno has not worked hard to be "as competitive as possible." He has worked hard to be seen as such by censoring journalists that disagree with the direction of the team and pushing for nonsensical, but flashy moves at times. At no point has he empowered a competent front office to build a sustainable winner with the Angels. Moreno was a huge reason why Shohei Ohtani left.

There was a glimmer of hope when it was reported that Moreno was exploring selling the team, but those hopes were squashed when he pulled the team off the market again. Until Moreno's tenure as owner actually ends, Angels fans are just going to have to expect more of the same ineptitude going forward because the league isn't going to save them.

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