How the Angels have failed two of this era’s greats.

By Nikolas Araiza

On Dec. 8, 2017, the Angels signed superstar Shohei Ohtani. It seemed as if Mike Trout would finally have a co-star to help him carry the team. Yet, in the 6 seasons since signing Ohtani, the Angels have failed to have a season in which they finished above .500.

What has been the cause of this? Why have the Angels had two of the game's best players, but yet to reach the postseason?

It all starts at the top with Arte Moreno. Moreno has been over-controlling at times and has allowed his general managers to make bad signings and trades.

Moreno’s over-controlling style was very apparent in 2022, when the question, “Should the Angels trade Ohtani?” arose. A player of Ohtani’s caliber could have gotten the Angels a very lucrative return. Instead, Moreno was hesitant and ultimately refused to trade him.

At this year's trade deadline, it seemed like deja vu for Angels general manager, Perry Minasian, with the Angels struggling and Ohtani being a unicorn. Like last year, Arte Moreno refused to trade Ohtani. Instead, they would trade for players, with hopes for a run at the playoffs

Unfortunately, the Angels were eliminated from playoff contention on Sep. 17 and now are at risk of losing Ohtani for nothing but a compensation pick.

Though Moreno can be blamed for a lot, he cannot be blamed for everything. The front office has just as much share of the blame as Moreno.

They have made terrible signing trades and draft decisions. Some of these decisions include the massive $245,000,000 contract given to Anthony Rendon, and the trades for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone. Also, the inability to draft and develop talent has not helped the situation at all.

Though this era of baseball has been a failure for the Angels, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For the Angels to get better, the team might have to lose Trout and Ohtani. Trading Trout might be hard but it could be the necessary evil needed to allow this team to reset and build to a brighter future.

An Era of Failure