Look at Arte Moreno Ownership Road from Anaheim to Los Angeles Angels

Arte Moreno’s tenure as the owner of the Angels has been rocky.

He’s done a lot of positives for the team since he bought them in 2003 for a little over $180 million. He’s also done a lot of not-so-positives.

But overall, he raised the team’s value by more than 12 times, to the $2.2 billion it’s estimated to be worth right now.

So that’s at least worth celebrating.

Here are the three best things Moreno did for the Angels over the last 19 years:

1. Keep Mike Trout in an Angel uniform for life

In 2019, Moreno awarded his star player with the richest contract in professional sports history — an extension that would turn his contract into a 12-year, $426.5 million pact. By doing so, Moreno, despite the constant losing, was able to keep the best player in baseball in Angel red for what will most likely be the remainder of his career, barring a trade.

Trout’s extension was a sign of hope for an Angels franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2014. If their best player was bought in, maybe they could finally field a winning team around him (spoiler alert: they haven't yet).

2. Convince Shohei Ohtani to come to Anaheim

It was a bit of a surprise for many around the league when Ohtani pegged the Angels as his team of choice in 2017. The Angels didn’t have much going for them aside from Trout and maybe an aging Albert Pujols. But Ohtani chose to join the Angels, giving them the potential to have one of the best one-two punches in the league.

It didn’t take long for that to come to fruition.

Ohtani won the Rookie of the Year in 2018, and exploded in 2021 to take home the AL MVP in unanimous fashion. Moreno elected to hang onto Ohtani at this year’s trade deadline, which raises the value of the team moving forward.

3. Spend money

This one could go either way. On the one hand, Moreno spent a ton of money which not a lot of owners are willing to do. But on the other hand, he didn’t do it in a very smart way.

Moreno will be remembered for the ludicrous contracts he shelled out to guys like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Anthony Rendon. But, unlike a lot of owners in the league right now, at least he put his money where his mouth was, and tried to field a competitive roster.

It didn't exactly work out as planned, but you have to applaud him for the effort. If the new ownership is as willing as Moreno was to empty out their pockets for star players, but can do it in a more efficient and well thought-out manner, the Angels could be back in playoff contention in no time.