It appeared all but certain Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno was ready to sell the team to the highest bidder. All of the sudden, Moreno pulled the club off the market. With no change coming in ownership, the question is how will this about-face affect their chances of keeping Shohei Ohtani in an Angels uniform past next season.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, nobody knows why Arte Moreno changed his mind about selling the team, but there's reason to believe the market dictated his decision.
Per Heyman: “Moreno declined comment about his hopes for Ohtani through a team spokesman, but has told folks close to him he had a change of heart due to a feeling of renewed energy and unfinished business.
“While Moreno hasn’t fully explained his sudden about-face, we can only imagine the groups anxiously lining up to pay a record price for his team — which is said to be very profitable (though bids weren’t due until Feb. 15, they were expected to break the Mets’ record $2.4 billion price and perhaps even eclipsed $3B) — may have convinced him that he was holding a hot property.”
The lack of comments from Moreno about Ohtani's future is telling, given how there's growing belief the 2021 American League MVP will not stay with the Angels past 2023. As for the potential sale, it would be logical to think Moreno has a vision of bringing the value up, then cashing out.
Under Moreno's control, the on the field product has been bad (to put it nicely). Since he bought the team in 2003, the Angels have only made six postseason appearances (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014), and have yet to make the playoffs since they paired Ohtani with fellow superstar Mike Trout in 2018.
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