It’s been typical start to the season for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. We’ve seen them get routed in the first two games of the season in Baltimore, before rattling off four straight wins, including a sweep against the lowly Miami Marlins.
They then dropped two of three to the Boston Red Sox in their first series at home and have split the first two games against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The pitching has had its ups and downs, and the offense has been led by their All-Star and MVP Mike Trout who hit his sixth home run on Tuesday night, tying Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neill for most in the MLB.
Yet even though we’re in the infancy of the 2024 season and the Angels have a decent 6-5 record, they still find the headlines and stories to be negative.
Their play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo went exploded about the state of the entire league during a live broadcast after a controversial ruling ended Nolan Schanuel’s on-base streak at 30.
In their game against the Orioles on March 30, Schanuel appeared to have an infield hit after legging out a ground ball and the play wasn’t made between the first baseman and pitcher. The MLB changed it from a hit to an error after determining Baltimore pitcher Mike Baumann failed to make the play. The Angels’ appeal of the ruling was denied.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, during the Angels’ home opener, their pregame video montage showing former Halos greats and iconic moments in the team’s history with the song “Calling All Angels” by Train playing in the background also had controversy.
In the part of the montage that shows team owner Arte Moreno hoisting up his jersey at an old press conference, the fans booed the image very loudly with Moreno in attendance at the game. Clearly the fans weren’t shy about displaying their anger and frustrations with Moreno and the current state of the team especially after the departure of Shohei Ohtani this winter.
Moreno’s images were removed from the montage on Saturday and Sunday’s game against Boston.
Yes, Schanuel deserved his hit and on-base streak to continue. Yes, Trout is out to a tremendous start. Yes, vets like Tyler Anderson have looked sharp, and yes, new manager Ron Washington deserves an opportunity to turn this thing around.
However, the fact is, this team will be a Wild Card team at best, which isn’t saying much and definitely won’t be easy in an increasingly competitive American League.
Even the addition of beloved former Angel Torii Hunter to the front office joining GM Perry Minasian doesn’t really move the needle, because everything will still be micromanaged by Moreno.
Last year, Angels fans could see the light at the end of the tunnel with Moreno announcing he was going to sell the team, only to see him recant and decide to keep the team.
That showed right there Moreno has lost the feel for the city, fanbase, and organization, and he should seriously re-consider selling the franchise. Too many things have gone wrong under his ownership tenure.
From the quick hirings and firings of front office executives and managers to the eyebrow raising albatross contracts to underperforming stars, the poorly run minor league system that’s been one of the worst in the league, no playoff appearances for 10 years, and the lack of identity and culture that has just decimated a once proud franchise.
It’s time for Moreno to re-consider selling and leaving the Angels to somebody else. They are still worth between $2.5 and $3 billion in a desirable location with. He bought the team in 2003 for $180 million; that’s more than enough to retire and ride off into that Orange County sunset.
This team will never truly evolve or improve with Moreno still making a mess at the top. Hopefully, this recent shower of boos from those disappointed fans will be an eye opener for him to consider putting a ‘For Sale’ sign outside of ‘The Big A.’
