Arte Moreno has concerning comment about Angels’ free agency approach

Mar 24, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno at a press conference to announce a 12 year contract extension for center fielder Mike Trout (not pictured) at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno offered a new set of comments recently that probably will not make fans feel any better about his continued stewardship of the team.

In an interview with Tom Verducci of SI, Moreno discussed why he had backed away from selling the team and where he sees the franchise going. During the interview, he divulged that he had been eager to sign free agent shortstop Trea Turner, but was talked out of it by general manager Perry Minasian.

“I kept saying, ‘What about Turner? Is this what we need?'” Moreno said. “I said, ‘You mean you need more than just Turner?’ He says, ‘Yeah.’ So, it’s about the distribution of money. Is it one player who makes a splash? Or is it, ‘Hey, we can spend this money on two or three players.'”

It is definitely concerning that Moreno seemed to think that adding another star would be the answer to the Angels’ problems. The team lost 89 games last season despite having two of the game’s brightest stars in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. The problem was that the rest of the roster was lacking, with only five teams across the league scoring fewer runs than the Angels did.

Moreno has a long history of trying to build teams by spending big on stars, and it has never worked. Many of those stars did not even work out in the first place. It does not exactly bode well that he does not seem to realize that the approach itself has been fatally flawed.

Ultimately, Turner signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, while the Angels spent their money more broadly across multiple players. Minasian deserves some credit for shrugging off that suggestion.