Angels can become the AL’s Dodgers with the right owner

Arte Moreno announced on Tuesday that he is exploring a sale of the Los Angeles Angels. This is a day of celebration for Angels fans who are tired of the team being irrelevant with Moreno manning the ship. While there has been a huge difference in recent years, the Angels have similar potential as the Los Angeles Dodgers if the team finds the right owner.

It was not that long ago that the Dodgers were also owned by a bad owner who held onto the team for far too long. Frank McCourt selling the team in 2012 was the greatest thing to happen to the franchise.

After 25 years of mostly being mediocre, the Guggenheim Partners took over (with Magic Johnson as the figurehead) and the Dodgers have been relevant ever since. The Dodgers missed the playoffs in 2012, but have not been shut out of October baseball in the decade that followed.

The Angels have similar potential as the Dodgers.

There is no reason why the Angels cannot operate in a similar method as the Dodgers. What makes the Dodgers so great is that they are a big-market team with big-market pockets that has a small-market mindset. They have the best of both worlds, as they can develop players and afford star players as well.

While the Angels might technically be in Orange County, it does not change the fact that they are in the massive LA market with widespread appeal. After all, the Angels are the ninth-most valuable team in the sport with the fourth-most lucrative cable rights deal in the league. The money is there, with potential for even more money with the right ownership.

If the right billionaire owner steps in and wants to spend, then there is a lot of potential for the Angels. Moreno had no problem spending on big-name players, but he did not invest in player development enough.

The Angels’ player development has been a joke over the last decade, and a big reason why is the lack of resources that these minor-league players were given. The best home-grown player the Angels have developed since Mike Trout is Jared Walsh. That should not be the best home-grown player on any roster for an entire decade.

Most of the Angels’ issues over the last decade-plus (2022 marks 13 seasons since they won a playoff game) have stemmed from the top-down, and it started with Moreno. Heck, this is the same guy that struck down a steal of a trade from the Dodgers in 2020 because he got impatient.

4 Dodgers who could get axed from 2022 playoff roster (as of August)

The Los Angeles Dodgers need to start preparing their postseason roster for 2022 and these four players could potentially be on the chopping block.

If I were an Angels fan, I would be hoping that someone like Stan Kroenke buys the team and instantly hires someone from the Dodgers/Rays tree of executives to run the show. If they do that, then maybe they can enjoy a similar run over the next decade as the Dodgers have over the last decade.