Angels Owner Arte Moreno Reveals How He Wants to Upgrade Roster This Offseason

Maren Angus-Coombs | 20 Hours Ago

Allan Henry-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels were exposed at almost every position this year. The injured list was a revolving door for some and there wasn't enough depth to fill in for them.

Owner Arte Moreno wants to change that next season.

In an exclusive interview with the Southern California News Group via telephone on Saturday, Moreno said he wants to “supplement” the young core.

“We have to make sure we’re deep enough,” Moreno said. “We have to make sure our bench is deep enough if somebody gets hurt. It’s a little bit hard to be in a situation where there’s $72-73 million and they give us no production. It’s hard for me to just sit here and tell you, honestly, that I’m going to put $73 million more money on this payroll next year.”

According to Moreno, the Angels will start improving once general manager Perry Minasian begins his to-do list.

“We have a plan to try to add players that are going to help us compete,” Moreno said. “Perry’s marching orders are we need to build a team that can compete for a playoff spot. When you get to playoffs, anything can happen.”

Despite setting a new franchise record with 99 losses this season, Moreno was pleased with the development of his young team.

“I feel we had a lot of growth with our young players,” he said. “We are really showing a lot more talent available going forward than we have for quite a few years. We’ve been trying to patch holes with free agents, and it hasn’t been working. It hasn’t worked in the way we want.”

With consistent rankings from various publications labeling the Angels' farm system as one of the weakest in Major League Baseball, Moreno holds a different perspective. He disagrees with these assessments and believes that the potential within the organization is undervalued.

“Look at a roster and see how many homegrown players we have playing for us,” Moreno said. “When people look at our system, they say, ‘Oh geez, they’ve got a low-rated system.’ Why do we continue to produce major-league players? We need to find the mix of players that are going to win. We have to win. At the end of the day, it’s all measured in wins and losses.”