Former Angels Slugger Takes Parting Shot at Outgoing Owner Arte Moreno

Mark Trumbo isn't necessarily wrong

Los Angeles Angels fans gather outside Angel Stadium before the game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers to protest the Angels team owner Arte Moreno on May 23, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Before he played for the Angels from 2010-13, Mark Trumbo rooted for them. He was old enough — 16, to be exact — when the Angels won the 2002 World Series, but a bit too young to appreciate Arte Moreno lowering the cost of beer when Moreno bought the team from the Disney Corporation in May 2004.

However, Trumbo has seen the narrative arc around Moreno evolve over the last 22 years. The same fans who once welcomed lower beer prices, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and Bartolo Colon were elated after Tuesday's announcement that Stan Kroenke agreed to purchase the team.

Trumbo was not alone in questioning Moreno's legacy as the Angels' owner.

"If this is the happiest you’ve ever made the fans," Trumbo said on Tuesday's episode of Halo Territory, "that’s kind of a tough one.

"There’s been good moments, but for a long time it’s been rather depressing.”

The Angels were able to sustain their post-2002 championship halo under Moreno, general manager Bill Stoneman, and manager Mike Scioscia in the years that followed. But the last decade has been one of turmoil.

Kroenke inherits the team in possession of MLB’s longest postseason drought. The Angels haven’t tasted October baseball since they were swept by the Kansas City Royals in a 2014 American League Division Series.

The Angels are 53-85 through Monday, trudging toward what could be the first 100-loss season in franchise history.

The on-field product is only expression of Moreno's disappointing tenure. Despite numerous attempts to develop the land around Angel Stadium, he failed to reach an agreement with the city of Anaheim, which owns the land.

Meanwhile, the second-oldest venue in the American League is showing its age. By the end of this year, theLos Angeles Times reported, "the city has said it anticipates the release of a long-awaited property assessment, which is expected to show Angel Stadium needs hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to remain viable for the long term."

Kroenke's vision for the land, and the stadium, and the team are anything but clear. For a day, questions about how and where he will steer the franchise was overwhelmed by a sense of relief.

Any amount of change will be welcomed by fans. Amid struggles on the field and off, Kroenke will be welcomed with more open arms in Anaheim than maybe any other big league city can offer in 2026.