The Los Angeles Angels finally have a new owner, but the timing of the sale leaves the franchise in an uncomfortable in-between phase.
That’s the upside of a brutal season that included the club’s first 100-loss year in franchise history. Stan Kroenke and his sports group bring a reputation loaded with championship hardware, so the assumption is the organization will be handled the right way once the change is fully in place.
The catch is that the change won’t be fully in place right away. Kroenke’s group does not officially take over until after the first of the year, and that delay creates some very real complications for the Angels as they head into a crucial stretch of the offseason.
One immediate issue was cleared up this week when the Angels officially moved on from manager Kurt Suzuki. Interim GM John Mozeliak handled that announcement, and he also said he will not remain beyond his current contract, which ends in December.
That at least removes the odd possibility of Mozeliak publicly selling Suzuki as a candidate for next year’s managerial job. But it opens the door to a different set of problems.
The biggest one is the brief free-agent window in November. According to The Athletic, there could be a “frenzy” beginning with the GM meetings in early November.
Under normal circumstances, the real rush would come at the winter meetings, but those are off the table now because the lockout is expected to start on Dec. 1.
That leaves a major question hanging over the Angels: will they even have someone in position to make moves in the next two weeks?
It’s an awkward setup, especially with Arte Moreno still technically the man in charge for now. If the expected frenzy does hit, the Angels could either get squeezed out while other clubs move quickly, or make major decisions before they’ve had enough time to fully assess the roster. A lot of groundwork has presumably already been laid, but the process is still fractured, and that kind of setup can lead to expensive mistakes.
There’s also the broader labor issue looming over everything. The owners are reportedly gearing up for a long lockout. Whether that actually plays out is another matter, since owners usually talk tough about being prepared to go the distance for a salary cap, then soften once spring game revenue starts to disappear.
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Angels Manager Search Just Became A Defining Choice For This Franchise
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Among the candidates tied to the job are Albert Pujols, Mike Shildt, Torii Hunter, Ryan Flaherty and Rocco Baldelli, a mix that ranges from franchise icons to established dugout operators. Each brings a different background and a different kind of fit for an Angels team that now has to decide what kind of leader it wants at the center of the clubhouse. [Read more 🡒]