TEMPE, Ariz. — Arte Moreno has no regrets about the change of heart that led him to pull the Angels off the market 13 months ago.
The Angels owner said Wednesday that he has no plans to revisit a sale of the team that he’s operated since 2003.
“I am here long term,” Moreno said in an interview with the Southern California News Group. “There are some people that came back and some people that knew I had it on the market (in 2022). I basically said it’s not on the market.”
Moreno added that it was always possible that someone would come back and make an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
“I’m a business person,” he said. “If someone gets really stupid, then you have to go.”
Moreno said a year ago that he had turned down offers, including three that surpassed the $2.4 billion that Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets. One of the offers was reportedly more than $3 billion.
Moreno, 77, paid $183.5 million to buy the Angels more than two decades ago.
Although his ownership was a success initially, with the Angels annually contending and selling more than 3 million tickets per season, the franchise has been struggling on the field lately.
Despite the presence of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and three-time American League MVP Mike Trout, the Angels haven’t had a winning season since 2015 and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2014.
Ohtani signed a heavily deferred 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers over the winter, ending his six-year run with the Angels.
When asked if the Angels were willing to meet that price, Moreno said: “No.”
Moreno, however, would not say whether he believed the Angels had a chance to keep Ohtani at the various points when they made the decision not to trade him. The Angels could have traded Ohtani at the 2022 trade deadline, during the following offseason, or at the 2023 deadline.
“From a fan perspective, they pay for tickets and watch the games and listen to the games, this is a special guy,” Moreno said. “I’d like to see him play. We’re in the entertainment business. We made a decision, a group decision, that the best thing was to keep him and make a run.”
The Angels played better through late July last summer and were as close as three games from a playoff spot when they decided to add several players – bringing the projected payroll above the luxury tax threshold in an effort to make the postseason.
Instead, they started August by losing seven games in a row, and by the end of the month they were out of the race. The Angels then placed seven players on waivers in an effort to get back under the threshold, eventually finishing less than $30,000 below the $233 million threshold.
This winter, with Ohtani gone, they have not even approached last year’s payroll. According to FanGraphs, the Angels are currently set to have a payroll of about $188 million, for purposes of the luxury tax.
Moreno said the plan was to “set the budget lower. … I’m not going to spend money just to show that we’re going to spend money unless it’s going to substantially change the team.”
Moreno said he’s encouraged by the potential of young players like catcher Logan O’Hoppe, shortstop Zach Neto, first baseman Nolan Schanuel.
“I am in it because I believe we can build a team to win,” he said.
Moreno also addressed the failed attempts to reach a development deal with the city of Anaheim regarding Angel Stadium. In 2022, the Angels had a plan to purchase the ballpark from the city in exchange for the right to develop the surrounding area. The agreement fell through when Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu became embroiled in a corruption scandal.
Now, Moreno said there are no current talks about reviving that deal, with no expectation that it would be revisited.
“Right now I’d say no,” Moreno said. “I don’t like the word never. Right now I don’t believe (Anaheim officials) have an appetite for it.”
The Angels currently have a lease through 2029 at Angel Stadium, with three-year options that run through 2038. Asked if he can forecast what will happen then, Moreno said: “Do you know where you’re going to be in 2038? Do you know how old I am? This year I’ll be 78. That’s a long time.”
The Angels are, however, proceeding with plans to make upgrades to their spring training home in Tempe. Moreno said the practice fields and training facilities will undergo renovations starting at the end of this spring. Improvements to Tempe Diablo Stadium could begin next year, to be completed in time for spring training 2026, Moreno said.
NOTES
The Angels officially signed left-hander Drew Pomeranz to a minor league with an invitation to major league camp. Pomeranz has not pitched in the majors since 2021, missing the last two seasons with elbow issues. …
Despite his limited experience in the major leagues, Schanuel begins camp at the top of the first base depth chart. “Now, he is our first baseman,” Manager Ron Washington said before Wednesday’s workout. Washington also said he planned to have Schanuel hit leadoff. Schanuel was picked in the first round of the 2023 draft and he was in the major leagues less than two months later. He hit .275 with a .402 on-base percentage. …
Outfielder Taylor Ward said he is at 100% as he enters camp, after missing the end of last season because of injuries suffered when he was hit in the face by a pitch. Ward said he hasn’t faced live pitching yet, but he’s scheduled to do so on Saturday. “I’m sure the first one that comes right at my face, I’ll be like, ‘Whoa,’” he said. “But after that it’s the game of baseball. It is what it is. You try not to think about it.”