Arte Moreno Wanted To Sign Trea Turner, Angels GM Convinced Him Otherwise
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The Los Angeles Angels had quite the forgettable 2022 season as they went 73-89 and missed the playoffs for the eighth straight year. Despite Shohei Ohtani coming in as an MVP finalist, there wasn't many other bright spots for fans.
However, it was clear that team owner Arte Moreno was looking to get back in the good graces of the fanbases. He was all over headlines during the season as he was looking to sell the franchise and then went back on his word.
Moreno's name was getting bashed and not many people surrounding the team were happy to see him return. Therefore, he shifted the focus towards improving the roster overall and had his eyes set on a certain shortstop that just finished a stint with their city rival Dodgers.
Moreno made it a clear in a recent, tell-all interview with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci that he was looking to go in hard on Trea Turner during free agency. However, after further conversations with the team, he elected to use that money for a bigger purpose.
“I kept saying, ‘What about Turner? Is this what we need?’” Moreno says. Minasian, he says, told him the Angels had multiple needs besides shortstop.
“I said, ‘You mean you need more than just Turner?’” Moreno says. “He says, ‘Yeah.’ So, it’s about the distribution of money. Is it one player who makes a splash? Or is it, ‘Hey, we can spend this money on two or three players.’”
Other than being to spread out more money on multiple players in free agency, Moreno and the Angels likely saved themselves their time because it was heavily rumored that Turner was looking to sign with a team on the East coast. He eventually came to an agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies worth $300 million. It was also rumored that the San Diego Padres offered him up to $342 million so LA certainly would have had to pull out the brine trucks.
Arte Moreno still has a long way to go when it comes to building a winning culture within the Angels' organization. They have a big season ahead of them with Shohei Ohtani's future uncertain and we will see if the offseason moves made were the right choice.
