During the latter portion of the 2022 season and throughout this entire offseason, the expectation in the baseball world was the Angels would have a new owner here in the upcoming months. Instead, current owner Arte Moreno has decided against selling the team. The decision was announced, officially, Monday afternoon.
The team statement:
During this process, it became clear that we have unfinished business and feel we can make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience. This offseason we committed to a franchise record player payroll and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series Championship back to our fans. We are excited about this next chapter of Angels Baseball.
We are grateful to Galatioto Sports Partners for their outstanding efforts throughout the process that allowed us to meet with a number of highly qualified individuals and groups who expressed strong interest in the Club. However, as discussions advanced and began to crystallize, we realized our hearts remain with the Angels, and we are not ready to part ways with the fans, players, and our employees.
It was Aug. 23 when the Angels initially announced the Moreno was officially putting together a formal process of exploring the sale of the team. Moreno has owned the Angels since buying them in 2003 from Disney for $180 million. Take note of the statement above saying the goal is to win a World Series. The Angels last did it in 2002, the season before Moreno bought the ballclub.
"Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno's love of the game is most important to him," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "I am very pleased that the Moreno Family has decided to continue owning the team."
The Angels were expected to sell for somewhere in the $2.5 billion to $3 billion range, according to The Athletic, and there were five potential buyers interested. Steve Cohen purchased the Mets for roughly $2.4 billion two years ago, a record sale price for an MLB franchise.
The Angels went 73-89 last season despite sitting in first place through about a month-and-a-half of the season. They were 27-17 before everything fell apart. In the statement above, the payroll for 2023 is mentioned and it is big. They look to be a little shy of $200 million in player payroll, though more than $100 million of that is tied up in Anthony Rendon ($38.6M), Mike Trout ($37.1M) and Shohei Ohtani ($30M).
The Angels did make some notable additions in the offseason, such as lefty starter Tyler Anderson and utility bat Brandon Drury. Full seasons of health from Trout and Rendon would also move the needle.
