The Los Angeles Angels have undergone a few changes in the past few weeks. They recently fired general manager Perry Minasian and replaced him with former St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak. Mozeliak is only in charge on an interim basis and likely will be gone by the end of the season.
For years, the Halos have played second-fiddle to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have won three World Series titles dating back to 2020. Under owner Arte Moreno, they haven’t had much success in a long time and have yet to make the postseason since 2014.
However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic thinks that they might not be too far away from being a good team again, so long as one thing happens.
“The Angels are a sleeping giant,” Rosenthal said on Foul Territory. “If they ever get a new owner, I imagine they’ll be a very dynamic franchise in short order.
How to Fix the Angels
The Angels have had players such as Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on their roster. For four years, all three of them were together in Anaheim, yet the Angels didn’t win anything.
Much of the criticism for Moreno is that he is typically unwilling to spend big money in free agency or make blockbuster trades. He also does not like the idea of rebuilding, so the Halos have been stuck in neutral for several years. But Rosenthal’s take might not be too far off, if at all.
“This is a team that is in a huge market in a place where players want to be,” Rosenthal continued. “Ultimately, they can fix this thing. It’s just a matter of whether this owner will oversee such an operation or if it will take a new owner for it to happen.”
If the Angels ever were to commit to building a sustained contender, then they could potentially be a much better team. The problem is that they just haven’t picked a direction and are stuck in the dreaded middle.
They have plenty of financial resources playing in Los Angeles, which is a big market. But they would not be wise to continue operating as they have been. Even firing Minasian will only do so much to change their fortunes. Mozeliak likely won’t be around for long, and hiring a new general manager after him likely won’t fix all their problems. Nothing can be changed overnight.
What Needs to Happen
Ultimately, it appears unlikely that Moreno will ever be willing to change things. So, in order to make the Angels a contending ballclub again, it likely will take Moreno selling the team to somebody else who is more willing to commit to winning and transforming the organization.
No progress has been made under Moreno, so in order to fix the issues the Angels have, new leadership is going to be needed. It will be interesting to see if Moreno explores the idea of selling the franchise again in hopes of turning the Angels around in a few short years.
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