OC Register: Precedent for Angels’ sale shows change isn’t always swift

[AngelsWin.com]

The sale of a Major League Baseball franchise is an inherently seminal event. They don’t happen often. The next owner of the Angels will be just the fourth since the franchise moved to Anaheim in 1966.

The glacial pace of ownership change is usually a good thing for all parties involved. Fans can focus on the product on the field. Players, coaches and other team employees can enjoy a sense of stability when they arrive at work. The owners themselves can realize the full potential of a long-term investment.

In the Angels’ case, however, stability hasn’t always been for the better.

The 2022 season will mark the team’s 13th consecutive year without a postseason win. The new owner will inherit a team lacking direction on the field and some massive bills to pay. Mike Trout is signed through the 2030 season and owed $283.6 million after this year. Anthony Rendon is guaranteed $152 million from 2023-26. Two other players are signed past 2023, and neither is named Shohei Ohtani.

For all that might discourage a potential owner from buying the Angels, the allure of owning a major sports franchise in the nation’s second-largest media market is sure to attract 10-figure bids. A $3 billion contract with regional television rights holder Bally Sports West doesn’t expire until 2031. A sweetheart stadium lease with the city of Anaheim runs through 2029, with options through 2038. The lights are in no danger of shutting off.

For these reasons – among others – past is not prologue when it comes to ownership transfers. The details matter. Your mileage will vary when comparing MLB team sales. Here is a brief look at the recent precedent facing the Angels:

1. New York Mets

Major League Baseball and the City of New York agreed to transfer control of the Mets from the Wilpon family to billionaire hedge fund owner Steve Cohen in Sept. 2020, reportedly at a cost of $2.4 billion. Cohen had been a minority owner of the team since 2012 – when his bid to buy the Dodgers failed – and a fan even longer. Upon assuming control of the team, Cohen rapidly expanded player payroll beyond the luxury tax threshold, and revitalized other moribund departments, such as research and development.

2. Kansas City Royals

In Nov. 2019, MLB approved the sale of the Royals from David Glass to John Sherman, a minority owner of the Cleveland Guardians. Sherman, who made his fortune in propane sales, reportedly paid $1 billion for a team that had won a World Series only four years earlier. The Kansas City native has yet to lift the Royals out of the small-market doldrums. They’re headed for their fourth consecutive fourth-place finish in the weak AL Central.

3. Miami Marlins

In Aug. 2017, Jeffrey Loria sold his flagging franchise to a group led by Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter for a reported $1.2 billion. Jeter recently stepped down as the team’s CEO amid another losing season, which would be the Marlins’ 12th in the past 13 years.

4. Philadelphia Phillies

In late 2015, minority owner John Middleton assumed control over the franchise that had belonged to David Montgomery since 1997. Although Montgomery retained a minority stake in the team at the time, change was swift. A new president (Andy MacPhail) and general manager (Matt Klentak) were introduced prior to the 2016 season, and the pair embarked on an ultimately fruitless rebuild from the team’s late-2000s run of five consecutive NL East titles. The Phillies own the National League’s longest playoff drought.

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5. San Diego Padres

In Aug. 2012, John Moores sold the Padres to a group led by the family of former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley. The final sale price was reported at approximately $800 million. It would be another eight years before San Diego saw a winning season, coinciding with the transfer of day-to-day control from one co-owner (Ron Fowler) to another (Peter Seidler). Seidler has guided the team into the upper echelon of MLB payrolls – rare territory for a small-market franchise.

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[T.G.]

What the article doesn’t provide is the timeline for how long the process was in buying a team. I’d be curious to know that.

Also… I had forgotten that the O’Malley family was involved in the the Padres deal.

[Taylor]

"Change isn't always swift"

Unless ... the new owner is:

Spoiler

 

[T.G.]

I think the whole process from the sale to the implementation of a new organizational philosophy is going to take longer than fans will like…

[Second Base]

34 minutes ago, T.G. said:

I think the whole process from the sale to the implementation of a new organizational philosophy is going to take longer than fans will like…

I'm guessing around a year and a half.