To sell or not to sell? That was the question on Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno's mind until Monday night, when he announced his decision to not go through with the sale of the club. Moreno's decision sparked plenty of reactions from MLB Twitter. Here are the best ones.
Good news for other teams. He's run them into the ground. https://t.co/Ya7Jhx8E3B
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) January 23, 2023
Unfortunately, that's the likely reaction from fans of other MLB teams. Arte Moreno, who became the owner of the Angels back in 2003, hasn't exactly had a successful tenure running the club.
Since Moreno's purchase, the Angels have made the playoffs just six times and have missed the postseason in each of the last eight years.
Not only that, but they've been blessed to have generational stars such as Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on their rosters over the years.
In fact, many Angels fans have been feeling the pain of Moreno's ownership of the club. Thinking they were at last free from his reign, the news of his sale flip-flop came as a great shock.
Arte Moreno after all of the angels fans thought they were out from under the misery of his ownership: pic.twitter.com/W3B6FI1zBg
— Jake (@D1SCHER) January 23, 2023
Part of the reason why these Angels fans aren't pleased? Arte Moreno's decision to hold onto the team could mean losing two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who has made it known that he “wants to win” ahead of his free agency bid, a roundabout way of saying that he hasn't been doing that since he arrived in Los Angeles.
It has Angels fans fearing the worst.
Arte Moreno staying means Ohtani is gone pic.twitter.com/nBt2I5QTCD
— Razzball (@Razzball) January 23, 2023
Shohei Ohtani’s free agency next offseason just got a little more interesting https://t.co/sRB25mnmgy
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) January 23, 2023
Even the MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred reacted to Arte Moreno's Angels sale decision.
From MLB commissioner Rob Manfred (prepared statement):
“Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno’s love of the game is most important to him. I am very pleased that the Moreno Family has decided to continue owning the team."
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) January 23, 2023
Some fans weren't buying what Manfred was selling in regard to the reason Moreno decided to hold onto the team.
Either way, MLB Twitter had a field day with Arte Moreno's decision to not go through with the Angels sale.