Arte Moreno has agreed to sell the Angels to Stan Kroenke at a reported $4 billion valuation, per Britt Ghiroli, which would make it the richest sale in MLB history, edging out the Padres' $3.9 billion price tag from earlier this year (2094884118374834559). Moreno bought this team for $183.5 million back in 2003 and, as Aaron Gleeman gleefully pointed out, ran it into the ground on and off the field for two decades before cashing out at a return that makes his critics' heads spin (2094904911762751816). Angels fans have been begging for this day for years.
The reaction in Anaheim sounded a lot like relief. Fans at Angel Stadium got a chant going the night the news broke, and it wasn't subtle.
Angels fans chant "goodbye Arte" after he sold the team
Inside the organization, the reaction was closer to blindsided than celebratory. Angels president Molly Jolly said it's business as usual during a due diligence period before the sale is formally approved, and that Moreno isn't fully cashing out — he's holding onto an unspecified minority stake (2094909186241147125). Interim GM John Mozeliak said Moreno had floated the idea of a sale back when he was hired, but Mozeliak didn't learn it was actually happening until Jolly told him the morning it broke: "This was news to me... but it wasn't a shocker. I think it's exciting news for everybody" (2094911433725419689). Mike Trout, the face of this era for better and mostly worse, echoed that same surprised-but-fine tone: "Kroenke's got a track record of success and winning championships with his teams. I'm super excited about it and can't wait to meet him" (2094929086061928869).
The real story here isn't just who's writing the check — it's what Kroenke's ownership group actually does with the Angels' biggest long-standing problem: the stadium. Kroenke's company already owns the Rams, the Nuggets, the Avalanche, and Arsenal, and he built SoFi Stadium in Inglewood from scratch, so this isn't his first rodeo with venue development. Foul Territory's Sam Blum has been arguing for months that the culture in Anaheim needed a shakeup, and he made it plain right after the deal leaked.
The culture needs to change in Anaheim under Stan Kroenke, says @SamBlum3. "I sat through three months of the Tyler Skaggs civil trial, and all I heard was how bad that culture was day after day."
Ken Rosenthal framed the sale in similarly stark terms, calling it basically Independence Day for a fanbase that's watched Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani's primes get wasted on bad rosters. "They should be a team that's putting together the kind of machine the Dodgers have," Rosenthal said (2095558721577308360). Barstool Baseball's own recap ran with the headline that Kroenke now plans to build a new $2.5 billion stadium (2095532958132133930) — a number that lines up with what's been reported elsewhere about KSE's real-estate ambitions in Anaheim, though the team's current lease at Angel Stadium runs through 2029 with extension options that could stretch it to 2038, so any new build is years off, not immediate.
Rosenthal also touched on the one thing every Angels fan actually cares about: does this change anything for Trout, still just 35 and still stuck on a roster that's underperformed his talent for a decade? "You see, even at age 35, the chance for this team to get real good, real quickly," Rosenthal said, adding that Kroenke seems to want to keep the team right where it is in Anaheim rather than relocate it (2095567498917884176, 2095567498917884176).
What does Stan Kroenke purchasing the Angels mean for Mike Trout? "You see, even at age 35, the chance for this team to get real good, real quickly," says @Ken_Rosenthal.
There was even a strange full-circle moment at the ballpark: Rams legend Eric Dickerson threw out the first pitch the day after the Kroenke news broke, a coincidence scheduled months in advance. Dickerson, who's watched Kroenke run the Rams for years, gave the new-ish Angels owner a scouting report Angels fans will want to hear: "Kind of quiet but a really good businessman... Stan likes winning. I can tell you that right now" (2095298122759246183). The deal still has to clear MLB's approval process and a full due diligence review, with a close reportedly targeted for early 2027 — so nothing changes on the field tomorrow. But for a fanbase that's watched ownership squander two generational talents, just knowing Moreno's grip is loosening is the win.