Column: What would the ideal Angels owner look like? Letâs build a model and wish for the best
The ownership situation was a mess. The team repeatedly missed the playoffs. When the possibility of a sale became widely known, fans rejoiced. Their nightmare was about to end.
And then owner Rupert Murdochâs Fox Corp. sold the Dodgers to Frank McCourt, who siphoned off club funds to finance an over-the-top lifestyle for himself and his wife, Jamie, and pushed the Dodgers into bankruptcy in 2011. Fans saw through him quickly, staying away from Dodger Stadium in silent but eloquent protest until he sold the team to Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012.
The moral here: Be careful what you wish for. You might not end up with what you thought youâd get.
That came to mind Tuesday, when Angels owner Arte Moreno said he had begun to âevaluate strategic alternativesâ that include potentially selling his team. Understandably weary of not making the playoffs and the Angelsâ failure to build around superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, fans celebrated Morenoâs possible departure. Things have to get better. Donât they?
Moreno has spent a lot of money but spent too much of it badly, overvaluing big-name players who were on the downside of their careers. An era that began with high hopes and lower beer prices and brought them five American League West titles from 2004 to 2009 ended in a meltdown fueled by bad personnel decisions. There was growing dread that Ohtani, the two-way unicorn, will walk away as a free agent after next season. Without him, the Angels wouldnât be worth watching.
Angels owner Arte Moreno is exploring selling the team, which gives the team a chance to keep Shohei Ohtani beyond the 2023 season.
Itâs unclear whether an ownership change and promises of better management (and more wins) will persuade Ohtani to stay. But this much is certain: After years of failures and Morenoâs misguided free-agent signings, the Angels need a dynamic and deep-pocketed owner (more likely owners) who will provide the vision and resources for a revival and then get out of the way, allowing baseball experts to build quality depth on the roster and rebuild a sorry scouting and development system.
Sounds good. But who fits that description?
Itâs early in the game, and a deal of this magnitude â the Angels are expected to sell for more than the $2.2 billion valuation Forbes gave them this year â likely will require a group of investors. Finding partners and forging alliances could take time, though some of those conversations undoubtedly began within minutes of the release of Morenoâs statement.
The ideal new Angels owners would have the characteristics of several current owners across the major sports leagues.
They should have the passion of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, courtside fixtures who act like fans and constantly advocate for their teams. Ballmer also deserves praise for taking the initiative to leave Crypto.com Arena, where the Clippers rank third in preference for playing dates behind the Kings and Lakers, for the privately financed Intuit Dome in Inglewood. Similar initiative could help the Angels on the field and off, especially in developing the area around Angel Stadium.
The new Angels owner should have the financial strength and wisdom of Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose extensive holdings include the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Besides having the money to turn the Avalanche into a winner, he had the patience to trust general manager Joe Sakic through a long and often painful rebuild. Kroenke signed Rams general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay to contract extensions after they won the Super Bowl and has spent wisely on cornerstone players such as Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp.
The strong community orientation of Henry and Susan Samueli, who have owned the NHLâs Ducks since 2005, is another must for the Angelsâ new owners. The Samuelis have made sizable donations to the engineering schools at UCLA and UC Irvine and support many health- and art-related causes in Southern California. Their example is worth following because itâs the right thing to do and because it would strengthen the Angelsâ connection to a disenchanted fan base.
Arte Moreno has started exploring the option of selling the Angels, the team announced Tuesday. Hereâs some of what our staff has written about Moreno and the current state of the Angels.
A dash of New York Mets owner Steve Cohenâs willingness to engage fans on social media would be welcome for the new Angels owners. So would the drive for excellence the New York Yankees have maintained for decades under the ownership of the Steinbrenner family, now led by Hal Steinbrenner, son of George. And throw a big helping of the expertise of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, whose team has won four titles in eight seasons. Lacob has shown interest in owning the Dodgers, Angels and Oakland Athletics at various times; this could be the right time for him to own the Angels and bring back a winning culture.
While weâre at it, the Angelsâ new owners also should replicate the diversity in the executive ranks of womenâs soccer team Angel City FC, which has athletes, actors, women and people of color among its founders and investors. Moreno was the first Mexican-American to own a major sports team in the U.S. He shouldnât be the last.
If Moreno isnât merely testing the market and is serious about selling the Angels, fans will get what theyâve wished for. The right owners can turn those wishes into a happier reality than Moreno ever could.
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