Latest news with #ArteMoreno
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Why the Angels need to embrace role as sellers ahead of trade deadline
NEW YORK — After the Angels were swept by the Mets on Wednesday afternoon, interim manager Ray Montgomery walked into the visitors clubhouse, where many players ambled around their lockers. It wasn't a formal team meeting; not everyone was present. Still, he wanted to deliver a message. 'I said to the guys, there wasn't one ounce of quit,' Montgomery said. 'The guys kept grinding through a tough game that could have gotten away from us, and it didn't. We had chances. I was proud of the way we kept fighting.' Advertisement He's right. The Angels have played inspired baseball, sometimes even in losses. It's a team that is far more enjoyable to watch than the 99-loss disaster of last season. But when it comes to the tough choices this organization needs to consider over the next week, fight, heart and competence really shouldn't matter that much. The Angels, GM Perry Minasian and owner Arte Moreno need to face facts. They have a 2.8 percent chance to make the postseason this year, according to FanGraphs. They are 4 1/2 games out and have six teams ahead of them fighting for the final wild-card spot. It's not impossible. But anything other than preparing to sell wouldn't be prudent. Minasian declined to discuss the deadline approach Monday at Citi Field, stating he'd talk next after the July 31 deadline passes. He hasn't taken questions from reporters since the beginning of July. There's a lot of interest in Angels players, and competing teams around the league are very hopeful that they sell. It's a huge opportunity for a team that has proven something very important this season: Acquiring good young players eventually leads to more wins. This deadline presents an opportunity to lean into that even more, given they have leverage over competing teams desperate to improve. It's an opportunity to put the franchise in a position to be legitimately competitive long-term. That might mean trading players with more than one year of team control. That includes Taylor Ward, Reid Detmers and José Soriano, among others, all of whom have been inquired about by competing clubs. Reasonable people could disagree on just how aggressive a sell-off the Angels want to conduct. But there's no reasonable argument for anything other than selling, as things stand presently. Particularly as Moreno has been more frugal in his free-agent spending over the years, with Yusei Kikuchi's 3-year, $63 million contract marking the most expensive deal since 2019. Advertisement Leveraging the deadline is a crucial element of building a competitive operation. But it's unclear if Moreno understands that. And Minasian, whose contract expires after next season, might not be inclined to think far beyond 2026. It will ultimately come down to Moreno's inclinations, as always. One team source suggested before the Mets series that he might not want to sell off, since it's unfair to the fans. That's flawed logic — the kind they've employed over the last 11 dreadful seasons. What's unfair to the fans is a malaise of perpetual failure. They've been different iterations of bad every year since 2015. Sure, they have a higher floor than the Rockies or White Sox. But with their modus operandi, their ceiling is also a lot lower. Trading a player like Ward would be tough. And it would hurt their chances in 2026. But it might also bring back talented players who could be the backbone of their competitive window. That's how good teams build, and rebuild quickly — by establishing a pipeline of talent that has not existed in Anaheim in a long time. Winning often requires tough choices and sacrifice. That's the mindset the Angels need to employ, but almost certainly won't. They have always operated in the interest of cobbling together a good enough team, not building something self-sustaining. That's why trading players with years of team control is often off-limits this time of year. The Angels' run differential this season is minus-65. They are 19-12 in one-run games. And they have remained extremely healthy, thus far, throughout the season. They went the entire first half of the season using the same five starting pitchers. Players, coaches and fans want to, and should, look for the positives in evaluating where the Angels are. Hope and optimism can help a club. But front offices need to be cold calculators in assessing the operations. They need to ask if what they've built is actually good enough to be one of the best teams after 162 games. Advertisement The Angels were not overmatched by the Mets. But the sweep highlighted areas of weakness. Poor defensive decision-making was on display. The bullpen wasn't able to lock down leads. And the offense missed several big scoring chances. 'It's frustrating,' Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe said after his team blew a four-run lead in a loss Monday. 'We've got to win games in the second half. We're over good looks, we're over good signs. We've got to win games.' This is what you want your starting catcher to say. This is exactly the right mindset, and whether the Angels sell, the players need to keep that way of thinking. But there needs to be a distinction between what the players' goals are in the clubhouse and the prudent decisions of a big-league front office. Maybe they'll go 7-0 this week, and change the entire calculation. If that happens, great, you can reset. The whole point, however, is that this team's decision-makers need to be preparing for what's most likely, instead of praying for a miracle. (Top photo of Ray Montgomery: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The Angels didn't capitalize on having Shohei Ohtani. Now they get to watch the Dodgers do so
Just wondering: When owner Arte Moreno watches his last-place Los Angeles Angels face Shohei Ohtani and the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, what will he see? Here's what Moreno should see, if he is looking at things objectively: How he blew one opportunity after another when Ohtani was an Angel, setting his franchise back in innumerable ways. Advertisement Moreno never built a winner around Ohtani, failed to recognize the historic financial potential of a once-in-a-lifetime player and blocked his front office from trading him when it became clear the team was not close to contending for a World Series title. If Moreno had shown vision, the Angels could have planted a flag in Japan the way the Dodgers did, becoming a destination for players from that baseball-obsessed country — and a money-making machine to rival, and perhaps even surpass, their neighbors to the north. As Ohtani approached free agency, Moreno on multiple occasions could have authorized his front office to trade the two-way superstar, with future San Diego Padres superstar Jackson Merrill among the prospects in play at the 2022 deadline. And when Ohtani became a free agent, Moreno could have said yes to the same terms the Dodgers did — 10 years, $700 million, with all but $20 million deferred. Ohtani still might have bolted for the Dodgers, who won the World Series in his inaugural season, rather than remain with the Angels, who are headed for their 10th straight losing campaign. But Moreno seemingly did not even grasp that Ohtani was offering a gift, one that enabled the Dodgers to load up on other high-priced talent while simultaneously transforming their franchise into an economic powerhouse. The Angels had Ohtani first. The Angels could have built a worldwide empire. But while the Angels surely benefited financially during Ohtani's tenure from 2018 to '23, they didn't sufficiently leverage his presence to attract additional Japanese players, build a massive portfolio of Japanese sponsorships or beat the Dodgers to the punch. Orange County, the Angels' home base, is not as bustling as Los Angeles, where the Dodgers compete amid Hollywood stars. But for some players, that makes Moreno's team even more attractive. They can live in a nearby coastal city, enjoy the spectacular weather and perform, by major-league standards, in a relatively low-pressure environment. Fans, too, are drawn to the area, which includes attractions such as Disneyland, not to mention beaches galore. But the Dodgers, by signing Ohtani and then right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, captivate Japanese tourists in a way the Angels never did. Adam Burke, president of the Los Angeles Tourism Board, recently told The Athletic's Andy McCullough that 80 to 90 percent of all visitors from Japan specifically want to see a Dodgers game. Burke based his estimate on data from tourism groups the board has studied since the Dodgers signed Ohtani on Dec. 11, 2023. Advertisement 'It is a reason why people are choosing to come to Los Angeles,' Burke said. 'The other thing that's really critical is that people are not just coming to see one game. If they're going to come overseas, they're not just coming to see Ohtani play once. They want to see two or three games while they're here.' The Angels ranked sixth in paid home attendance in Ohtani's rookie season, fifth in his second year. But they dropped to 13th in 2022 and '23, Ohtani's last two seasons, and 13th again in '24, his first with the Dodgers. So far this season they are ninth, but that ranking is likely to drop as the team falls further out of contention. Already, empty seats abound. Now imagine if the Angels had traded Ohtani for a package of young talent that might have jumpstarted the franchise, supplementing a young core that includes shortstop Zach Neto, catcher Logan O'Hoppe and right-hander José Soriano. The possibility first drew serious consideration at the 2022 deadline, with Ohtani still under Angels control for 1 1/2 seasons. The Padres were interested in both Ohtani and then-Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, who had 2 1/2 years remaining. But Moreno balked at moving Ohtani, according to league sources who were granted anonymity for their candor. The Padres then pivoted to Soto and first baseman Josh Bell, sending the Nationals a stunning six-player collection that included left-hander MacKenzie Gore, shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielder James Wood. For Ohtani, Padres general manager A.J. Preller might have parted with a comparable or even better package, even for one less year of club control. Merrill was part of the trade discussions, according to sources briefed on the talks. It's not out of the question the Padres would have included him if Moreno was willing to go forward. Advertisement He wasn't. The Angels finished 73-89. In 2023, Ohtani would have been a mere rental, but again was in demand. The Angels entered the deadline three games out of a wild-card spot. Mike Trout, recovering from a left hamate fracture, would play only one game the rest of the season. But Moreno, knowing it might be the team's last chance with Ohtani to make the playoffs, decided the Angels should buy rather than sell. When they crashed in August, he ordered a massive waiver dump, enabling the team to get under the luxury tax threshold. Once again, the Angels finished 73-89. Slipping under the threshold, at least, proved fortuitous, improving the Angels' draft-pick compensation to a selection after the second round if they lost Ohtani in free agency. In March 2023, as Ohtani prepared for his final season in Anaheim, Moreno described him to The Athletic's Sam Blum as 'probably one of the top five or 10 players' — an interesting analysis of a player who would become baseball's first three-time unanimous MVP. After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci quoted a source familiar with the team's planning as saying Moreno thought the contract would 'start with a 4.' In present-day value, the heavily deferred deal actually was in that range by both the league's calculation ($461 million) and the union's ($438 million). But Moreno, who emerged as a hard-liner in the 2022 labor negotiations, evidently viewed Ohtani's $700 million total value as too much. If Moreno was not willing to pay Ohtani, he should have allowed his front office to trade him. Instead, the Angels wound up with only the No. 74 pick in the 2024 draft for perhaps the best player of his generation, and an all-time great. With that selection, they chose right-hander Ryan Johnson out of Dallas Baptist University. Advertisement Johnson, 22, entered the season as the Angels' No. 6 prospect, according to The Athletic's Keith Law. Less than a year after getting drafted, he made the club out of spring training without pitching in the minor leagues. The Angels demoted him on May 9, when his ERA after 14 appearances was 7.36. For the Angels, it never should have ended up this way. They failed to build with Ohtani when they had him. They failed to act when they could have traded him. They failed to value him properly, in every conceivable way. When Moreno watches his team face the Dodgers in the so-called 'Rivalry Weekend,' perhaps it's best he covers his eyes. — The Athletic's Sam Blum, Dennis Lin and Andy McCullough contributed to this story. (Top photo of Moreno and Ohtani: Josh Lefkowitz / Getty Images)
