ANAHEIM, Calif. — Despite being on pace for the first 100-loss season in franchise history, there may have never been more hope and optimism surrounding the future of the Angels than there is right now.
The Angels have seen sweeping changes to the organization over the last four months. A new team president, a new interim general manager, a new draft strategy, a change in approach at the trade deadline and other coaching and scouting department changes have already given fans hope for a better tomorrow.
But on Tuesday morning, the news that a large portion of Angels fans have been impatiently waiting for finally dropped.
Arte Moreno sold a majority ownership stake to Stan Kroenke.
“When I first came here, I spoke with Arte and he had mentioned that this was a possibility,” interim general manager John Mozeliak said. “But to learn it this morning from (Angels president Molly Jolly), I was definitely surprised, but it wasn't a shocker. I think it's exciting news for everybody. I think change is what I came in to try to start doing, and I wasn't thinking that it would be at the very top, but we've certainly been working our way through the organization.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, according to the Angels’ release. Per the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin, the sale is more than the $3.9 billion that the Padres sold for two weeks ago. Moreno has owned the Angels since 2003.
There had been zero whispers of this being a possibility out in the public, which is a very stark difference in operation from what it was in 2022, when Moreno publicly said he is exploring options to sell the team. He pulled the Angels off the market shortly after, and he had never shown signs of the team being up for sale anytime soon until the announcement was made Tuesday morning.
“In ‘22, I was heavily involved, even before it went public, for months with that,” Jolly said. “This was very different, because this was working with an investment bank team and putting together an offering memorandum. Having gone through that process, I knew he was contemplating it, as far as: what is your legacy and your exit strategy? That always stayed out there after that experience. So that didn't surprise me at all, that at some point, he was going to transfer to the right next person.”
Jolly took over as team president back in April, and to her knowledge, she said she was unaware whether or not Moreno was already in the process of selling the team.
This announcement came as a surprise to everyone involved. Jolly said that Moreno told her recently that it was happening, and Mozeliak didn’t find out until the morning of.
“I was sitting in my office quietly,” Mozeliak said. “And Molly came in and dropped a folder on my desk and said, 'Your day's going to change.’ And she was right.”
Even though there is new ownership in place, the current day-to-day operations will not change in the immediate future.
“What it means is the entity at the ownership level is going to change hands, but at the day-to-day for our fans, our community, everything we do day-in and day-out, it's staying the same,” Jolly said. “We want to win a ballgame tonight. We want to keep servicing our fans and our community partners and engage with the community.
“As far as it relates to what I've been working on, on the baseball side and bringing in (Mozeliak), that was a plan that I laid out, as far as a timeline and a strategy that Artie signed off on, that we're still moving on that plan. And I haven't been told otherwise. So that's what I'm operating under.”
The change comes as the Angels are a month away from finishing up their 12th consecutive season of missing the playoffs and 11th consecutive losing season.
“Just a fresh start,” Mike Trout said. “You kind of felt that way. It was needed, no hard feelings against Arte. But I'm super excited. The guys are excited. There's a good vibe around the clubhouse, vibe around the stadium, and we're all excited.”
Moreno isn’t solely to blame for over a decade of losses, but he’s had his fingerprints on a lot of it.
There have been reports over the years that Moreno is too controlling and doesn’t let the baseball operations personnel make baseball decisions. He’s handed out multiple nine-figure contracts that never panned out. There were reports of poor living conditions for minor league players five years ago. Just to name a few glaring examples.
Animosity among the fan base has grown with each passing losing season. This season, there have been multiple fan protests outside of Angel Stadium, and a large group of fans form in the upper deck in the right-field corner every night to take off their shirts and wave them in the air as they chant “Sell the team” along with some obscenities directed toward Moreno.
“We want the team to be successful,” Jolly said. “We want to win games, and that's a priority. It has been a priority. To not be achieving that is frustrating. It's frustrating for somebody that cares so much about the game and wants to win. He's aware of the chants. He knows about them. At the end of the day, this is about having the right next owner more than it is anything else.”
As one could expect, the reaction from the fanbase on social media has been thunderous.
“The fans are everything,” Zach Neto said. “Our energy feeds off of them. We hear them every single day. We try not to pay attention to what they say, but just a matter for the energy. I think that's the most important part. That Angels baseball is important to them just as it's important for us to win for them. I think it's very important their voices are heard, and we hear them, and it motivates us.”
Obviously, the fans are simply ecstatic at the fact that Moreno is gone, but who the next owner will be is also a reason for heavy optimism.
Kroenke has a history of winning with the sports franchises that he owns.
He owns the Los Angeles Rams and Colorado Avalanche, which both won the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup in 2022, and the Denver Nuggets, which won the NBA Finals in 2023. Kroenke also owns Arsenal FC, and they’ve won a Premier League Title as well as five Football Association Challenge Cups under Kroenke.
“He's won championships with all the teams he owns,” Neto said. “So we're just hopeful he comes with the same mentality, the same attitude, and knows that he's going to get 110 percent from not only me, but from everybody in this clubhouse.”
Trout and Neto have reached out to a player on the Rams that they didn’t want to name, but they both said that they’ve heard great things about Kroenke.
“If you look at the track record, I know one thing that's going to be on his mind is getting to the World Series, winning a championship,” Trout said. “As a player, it makes you feel good to have that and to feel that.”
Over these 11 losing seasons, many have wondered if Trout would ever ask for a trade out of Anaheim to have a chance to compete for a World Series. And every time it’s been asked, Trout has shot down the notion that he would ask for a trade.
It’s been an ongoing question for the 35-year-old, but does this change with new ownership in place?
“No, it doesn't change,” Trout said. “I got four years left on my deal. I'm excited. The track record, it's there. So super excited to meet him and talk to him, and get to know him a little bit, and see where it goes.”
Already under the tutelage of Mozeliak, the future appears to be brighter. The Angels’ farm system jumped from being the bottom of the barrel to being middle of the pack, according to multiple prospect rankings, after their fire sale at the trade deadline.
“When you look at the Angels in the last 12 years, they haven't gotten to where they need to go,” Mozeliak said. “We're working on building that foundation now. And I think from a fan standpoint, we've been preaching change all along, and now they're going to see even more. So, I do think it's exciting for the community."
A new foundation paired with an owner with a proven track record of winning put the Angels into a state of optimism that hasn’t been felt in quite some time.
“Seeing the reaction from the fans and some of the guys, and just the whole vibe, I think it was a need for a fresh start,” Trout said. “I think the biggest thing is getting that feeling of getting that winning culture back and having that vibe in the clubhouse.”