Top 5 Reasons Arte Moreno Belongs in Jail! By: Hank Indictor

As shocking as it might appear on the surface that a megastar like Shohei Ohtani got hurt, let's also not forget that the Angels have overused him and burned his arm out to the point where a UCL tear was bound to happen. After all, it's common knowledge about how much strain excessive pitching can be for the arm; look at all the Tommy John surgeries you hear about. Then again, there's another thing to consider. This injury happened to the Los Angeles Angels here, the team that's wasted the talents of not one but two of some of the greatest players of this generation! This year, there was great debate over whether or not Shohei Ohtani should be traded at the trade deadline. At the time, Arte Moreno needed to listen to whatever offers would be made for Ohtani because the Angels were never close to a Wild Card Spot. But what happened? Well, not only did he choose to keep Ohtani but he bought at the trade deadline, and in doing so, he made a gamble that was so egregious it had Pete Rose shaking his head in disgust! And now, with Ohtani's injury, there's no telling what his free agency status will be. But remember, this isn't the first colossal failure since he bought the team. Oh, far from it! In the past, I've made blogs where I did my version of one of my favorite ESPN docs, Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame, and think of this new series as a reverse. In other words, if Arte Moreno were put on trial for how he ran the team into the ground, he would be guilty on many accounts of criminal negligence! So, with that, I present to you the first of a new series and why I believe Arte Moreno should be in jail.

5. Los Angeles Angels of Oxymorons: This one is minor compared to the other reasons on my list. However, buying a team called the Anaheim Angels and then choosing to change their name because you want to market them as a Los Angeles team is pretty moronic for a few reasons. First of all, residents of Orange County don't want to have their squad marketed as Los Angeles if they take that much pride in being from Anaheim. Oh, and last I checked, there's a team that you know plays in L.A.? You know, the one that's arguably one of the biggest brand names in Major League Baseball? Trying to fight the Dodgers in a Los Angeles popularity contest is about as bright as Donald Trump's idea to challenge the NFL. Let's also remember that before they officially became known as the Los Angeles Angels, there were a few years when they were considered the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Why Arte Moreno even cared so much about the Angels being an "L.A." is also beyond me; after all, he's originally from Arizona!

4. Scouts Dishonored: I can make a whole post about Arte Moreno being a meddlesome jerkoff, but let's be honest, that defeats the purpose of 5 reasons. Many must remember that the Angels were once a solid factory regarding minor league prospects. After all, in addition to drafting Mike Trout, they also produced players such as Jered Weaver, Kendrys Morales, and Erick Aybar, to name a few. However, just one year after Trout was drafted, Arte Moreno fired the head director of scouting, Eddie Bane, because he clashed with then-GM Tony Reagins. They would also let go of Greg Morhardt later on, and he was another one of the men who scouted Trout. And that's not even getting into the many scouts he furloughed around the time of the pandemic. And sadly, this isn't even the only reason he's been negligent when it comes to the minor leagues

3. Minor League Malpractice: Technically, this should be reason #2, but as I said, after five, the remaining reasons remain egregious. It's a known fact that there are plenty of teams whose minor league systems have some of the worst living and workout conditions and that owners haven't been willing to improve housing and nutrition for the players, among other things, because they refuse to spend the money on it. However, minor leaguers within the Angels organization have said that their living conditions were among the worst in the league. When you have six players stuck in a tiny three-bedroom trailer, some living out of their cars and others having to spend money on fast food because they aren't getting paid enough for healthier options, not to mention needing jobs like driving for Uber or Lyft just to be able to pay rent, this tells you all you need to know. Even as a new housing rule was implemented for the 2022 Season, the Angels appeared to have done the bare minimum in trying to improve things. Remember, Arte Moreno has a net worth of over $3 Billion. Imagine if one of those minor leaguers was his child! Given that he's fired competent scouts and done nothing to help with the minor league, it's no wonder that all this has festered into the Angels being a poor product. Oh, but what about the major league team?

2. The Saddest Thing in Life is Meddling with Wasted Talent and Money: If there's one thing you can argue is a half-truth, it's the logic that Arte Moreno is cheap. After all, he's spent tons of money on Free Agents. However, as I've mentioned, this man has a track record of neglecting his minor league system. When it was among the best in the league, spending money on guys like Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon worked out because the talent was already there. After all, it hadn't been too long since the Angels had won their only championship. But as soon as some of their core guys started to decline and Moreno showed his meddlesome side, he started spending money like a drunken sailor. And not only that, but his strategy in signing players doesn't make much sense. Regarding pitchers, he'll sign reclamation projects such as Matt Harvey, Tim Lincecum, and Julio Teheran to one-year deals. This is the equivalent of putting a Hello Kitty band-aid on a large wound. Yet for hitters, he'll give out insane contracts to a declining Josh Hamilton, an Albert Pujols one year past his prime and having to deal with his slow decline over nearly ten years, and Anthony Rendon, who seems to prefer fighting A's fans these days. It begs the question, why doesn't he push for pitchers such as Max Scherzer or Gerrit Cole? Well, a big reason for that is bordering on the luxury tax. He has spent well over a billion dollars in free agency. Now granted, his G.M.s haven't always been the most competent (Billy Eppler comes to mind; look at how he's running the Mets), but remember, this man has a reputation for being extraordinarily hands-on and meddlesome. Remember, he was the one who overruled his G.M. in the hiring of Joe Maddon (fat load of good that did), not to mention the ugly power struggles between Mike Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto also happened under his watch. So you're telling me he'll spend like a drunken sailor when it comes to Free Agency but is unwilling to put any money into improving the minor leagues and will put scouts out of jobs for no reason, not to mention he's a meddlesome jerk who's responsible for a toxic culture. Ok, I got it! And need I remind you, this man has all the money in the world, and yet he can't properly spend it to build a real team around Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. And if he makes the same "deal with the devil" with Ohtani that he already made with Trout and Pujols (look how that's working out), then we can officially call Moreno the definition of insanity. Sadly I only wish this was the worst thing I could say about this moron.

1. Ignorance is Bliss: The worst part about Arte Moreno's reign of error is how he's looked the other way whenever there is scandalous activity. It's one thing for him to have employed a visiting trainer in Brian "Bubba" Harkins, who notoriously provided illegal substances for pitchers over the years. However, even worse was his employment of Eric Kay, the man who provided the drugs that killed starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Fortunately, Kay is currently serving jail time, but as for Moreno? If Skaggs had opened up to him about his addiction, he probably wouldn't have gotten much help. After all when Josh Hamilton tried to come out about his relapse the Angels conveniently tried to play off the facade that they were a clean team and then unceremoniously dumped him. 

So there you have it. Wasting away the talents of Trout and Ohtani is criminal, but believe me when I say that Arte Moreno's reign of error goes beyond just that. Arte Moreno belongs in jail, and I will die on that hill.