Arte Moreno’s Last Stand

During the American Indian Wars, General George Custer led his cavalry unit into the battle of Little Bighorn. This would later be known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” The unit was quickly overwhelmed and General Custer himself would be killed in battle. This season, Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno has communicated the desire to keep Shohei Ohtani as an Angel for the rest of his career. However, he is eligible to be a free agent after this year. Ohtani wants to win, Anaheim has never had a winning season with him on the team. The Angels decided to be buyers at the trade deadline to get them into the postseason and convince Ohtani to stay. Moreno is either going to retain Ohtani or he’ll have set the franchise back over ten years. This is Arte Moreno’s own last stand to keep Ohtani.

Shohei Ohtani Is a Free Agent After This Season

Shohei Ohtani is one of the greatest players ever in the long history of baseball. He has managed to be great at both hitting and pitching. He’s made three appearances in the All-Star Game and has won both Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. However, despite his individual success on the field, Ohtani’s teams have never finished higher than third place or gone to the postseason. Ohtani has said that he has a desire to win and so far, it hasn’t happened with the Angels. The greatest number of wins that the Angels have had with Ohtani on the team is 80.

Arte Moreno Is Going All in to Keep Ohtani

Arte Moreno has repeatedly said that he wants to make Ohtani an “Angel for life.” Staying true to his statements, Moreno has decided to not make Ohtani available for trade and make his team a buyer at the deadline. He has recently been draining the farm system to acquire White Sox pitchers Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito. He also picked up Randall Grichuk and C.J. Cron from the Colorado Rockies. This is Cron’s second stint with the Angels as he spent the first four seasons of his career there. I would expect more trades to happen come the August 1st deadline.

To trade for these players, Moreno is draining their already low-ranking farm system even more. This could be a disaster for the franchise going forward. A strong farm system is an organization’s lifeline when it comes time to replace players or rebuild. If Ohtani does depart, then the Angels are going to be spending a long time rebuilding not only their big club but their farm system as well. This has the makings of a perfect storm for the franchise.

This Is Either Going to Work or It’ll Be a Disaster

The real measuring stick of success is the Angels reaching the postseason and retaining Shohei Ohtani. If the Angels don’t go to the playoffs or lose Ohtani in free agency, then Arte Moreno will have set the franchise back many years. Given that they’ve drained their farm system, like General Custer years ago, Moreno is leading the franchise into their own Little Bighorn defeat and he’ll be the George Custer of Major League Baseball.

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