ANAHEIM — Ever since Tuesday’s announcement that Stan Kroenke would be buying the Angels from Arte Moreno, optimism around the team has soared.
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One major league executive texted: “It seems like a swing to the opposite end of the ownership spectrum.”
Kroenke, the Rams owner whose teams have won championships in multiple sports, is known for spending money and getting out of the way.
“He’s exemplary,” high-powered agent Scott Boras said. “He lets his experts in every sport run their franchise. He commits to acquiring elite talent and has benefitted from that by winning championships in soccer, hockey, basketball and football.”
Boras, of course, is thrilled to have a man worth about $24 billion – more than New York Mets owner Steve Cohen – added to the pool of bidders for his clients. Certainly, if the Angels have a higher payroll, that will make them a better team, but there are only so many free agents available each year. This year’s crop isn’t very deep.
The Kroenke Affect goes beyond the payroll, with more subtle ways that ownership money can lead to more victories.
MANAGEMENT
With Moreno in charge of the Angels, the pool of applicants to run the baseball operations department was somewhat limited.
Moreno never hired a general manager who had been a full-time GM before, which those in the industry widely assumed was because he didn’t want to pay the going rate.
It’s likely to be a different story now.
“Instantly, it’s a more attractive place,” said Jim Duquette, a two-time GM who is now an analyst on MLB Network Radio. “You’re looking for experience, obviously. You’re looking for the next Andrew Friedman.”
The Angels have had to go through the growing pains of having a rookie GM every few years, and then switching to a new rookie.
“I can tell you, having gone through it myself, I made a lot of mistakes early on,” Duquette said. “And by the way (Moreno) is a guy who wasn’t very patient with mistakes, so that was like compounding the problem.”
John Mozeliak spent 18 years running the St. Louis Cardinals before the Angels hired him as their interim GM over the summer. The expectation is now that either Mozeliak will stay on the job or the Angels will hire a different, experienced GM.
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INFRASTRUCTURE
Last spring, the Angels debuted their $20 million state-of-the-art hitting and pitching labs at their player development complex in Arizona. Duquette, who annually visits most of the spring training camps, got a tour.
“It’s terrific for what they had,” Duquette said. “But you’re not getting an advantage here. Now you’re just on equal footing.”
The Angels’ facilities in Tempe, in the minors and even at Angel Stadium, are mostly inferior to what other teams have. One of the issues at Angel Stadium is there is only one hitting cage that’s near the clubhouse and dugout. (A second one is in center field.)
Having all of the players share that cage, “alters everyone’s daily schedule, when I get to the field, stuff like that,” veteran infielder Adam Frazier said. “That’s not a very good situation for anyone.”
Finding room for a second cage at Angel Stadium would not be easy, but it would no doubt be a part of the appeal if the Angels get a new ballpark.
“They used to have an inherent advantage because the facility was good, and it was a great location,” Duquette said. “In Southern California, so many great players grew up there. But the facility has been neglected.”
REPUTATION
When free agents are considering a team, it’s not just the salary that matters. Players want to win, and they are no doubt going to look at what Kroenke has done with the Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
A check from Kroenke could carry more weight than the same check from Moreno.
“The precedent of the owner and who he is and what he’s done, the storyline is completely different for players,” Boras said. “His wealth is completely different. You just have a very different discussion about a franchise because of the fact that ownership is who it is, with a frankly rather prestigious and historic record of championships, which is what a lot of players care about.”
Frazier agreed.
“Just seeing what took place elsewhere, in other leagues,” Frazier said, “it just brings excitement right off the bat.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Ryan Johnson, 3-7, 5.47 ERA) at Pirates (RHP Jared Jones, 2-6, 4.83 ERA), Friday, 3:45 p.m. PT, Apple TV, 830 AM
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