ANAHEIM — Arte Moreno is the only owner Mike Trout has known in his 16 seasons with the Angels, but even the three-time American League MVP sensed it was time for a change.
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“Just a fresh start,” Trout said before the Angels hosted the New York Yankees on Tuesday evening. “You kind of felt that way. It was needed. No hard feelings to Arte, but I’m super excited. The guys are excited. There’s a good vibe around the clubhouse, vibe around the stadium.”
Trout learned a few hours earlier from team president Molly Jolly that Moreno had sold his controlling interest in the Angels to Rams owner Stan Kroenke for a reported MLB record $4 billion.
Kroenke has won two Super Bowls as an owner or co-owner of the Rams (2000, 2022), an NBA title in 2023 as owner of the Denver Nuggets and two Stanley Cup titles in 2001 and 2022 as owner of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
One of the first things Trout did after hanging up with Jolly was call an unnamed member of the Rams to get his opinion on the new ownership.
The 12-time All-Star center fielder said he liked what he heard.
“I know one thing that’s going to be on (Kroenke’s) mind is getting to the World Series, win a championship,” Trout said. “As a player, it makes you feel good to have that and to feel that.”
Moreno bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company in 2003, a year after they won their only World Series title.
They finished atop the AL West five times from 2004 to 2009, but they couldn’t replicate the postseason success they delivered in 2002.
Trout was drafted late in the first round in 2009, just as the team’s playoff window began to close. He made his only postseason appearance in 2014, getting swept in three games by the Kansas City Royals. At 53-85 going into Tuesday’s game, the AL-worst Angels are currently headed to their 11th consecutive losing season and their 12th consecutive non-playoff season, both the longest active streaks in the majors.
Trout remains thankful for the opportunity Moreno provided.
“He took a chance on a 17-year-old kid from Millville, New Jersey,” Trout said of Moreno. “He took care of me and my family.”
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Trout signed a 12-year, $426 million contract with the Angels in 2019. He played in just 319 games from 2020 to 2024 because of the COVID-shortened 2020 season and a series of injuries, but he appeared in 130 games last season and is on pace to play more than 140 in 2026, which would be his most since 2016.
“I’ve got four years left on my deal. I’m excited,” said Trout, who turned 35 last month. “The track record (with Kroenke), it’s there, so super excited to meet him and talk to him and get to know him a little bit and see where it goes.”
Angels shortstop Zach Neto also had positive things to say about Moreno while expressing similar optimism regarding the sale.
“Changing this around is most important,” he said. “We know what we have in this clubhouse, and we have a really good clubhouse in here, and thanks to Arte for everything that he’s done for us. He has a special part in my heart. He drafted me in the first round, so that goes a long way for me, but things had to change.”
Neto said he appreciated the way Moreno made himself available to the players right from the start of spring training.
“Arte was at pretty much every spring training game, sitting in the front row right by our dugout, which made him be able to make conversations with us,” Neto said. “Arte was very consistent. I think the most important thing is just listening to the players. Arte did a really good job with that.”
Neto said he and his teammates were aware of the large contingent of fans in the upper deck who have been chanting “sell the team,” among other things this summer.
“The fans are everything. Our energy feeds off of them. We hear them every single day,” Neto said. “We try not to pay attention to what they’re saying, but just the matter of the energy, I think that’s the most important part and knowing that Angels baseball is just as important to them as it’s important to us to win for them.”
UP NEXT
Yankees (RHP Cam Schlittler, 12-6, 2.09 ERA) at Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 4-8, 3.54 ERA), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM
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