Arte Moreno, who has owned the Angels through 20 years that included significant highs and more recent lows, announced on Tuesday that he has begun the process of exploring a sale of the franchise.

Moreno purchased the Angels for $184 million in 2003. The franchise is now worth more than $2 billion, according to an estimate in Forbes.

Moreno announced that his family has enlisted Galatioto Sports Partners as a financial advisor for this transaction.

Moreno has not spoken to the media since February 2020, declining or deferring regular requests since then.

Moreno bought the team from Disney shortly after the Angels won the 2002 World Series. The Angels continued to be one of baseball’s most successful franchises through 2009.

Since then, though, the team has consistently underachieved, despite the presence of generational talents Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014, and they haven’t had a winning season since 2015. They are currently 52-70, on the way to their seventh consecutive losing season, which is the longest current streak in the majors.

Although Moreno has consistently funded the Angels to have one of the top 10 payrolls in the sport, the Angels have not exceeded the luxury tax threshold in recent years, which has hampered their ability to go after the top free agents at times.

When they have signed premium free agents – at Moreno’s direction – the deals have mostly not worked.

Moreno was behind the Angels’ signings of Albert Pujols (a 10-year, $240-million in 2011), Josh Hamilton (five years, $125 million, in 2012) and Anthony Rendon (seven years, $235 million, in 2019) and none of them lived up to their contracts. Rendon has been hurt for two of his three seasons, but he still has four years to go to make the deal work.

Under Moreno, the Angels also signed Trout to a 12-year, $426-million contract, which runs through the 2030 season.

Moreno has faced sharp criticism from fans over interference with those in charge of baseball operations.

RELATED: Alexander: Arte Moreno is definitely not the people’s choice

In 2019, Moreno instructed general manager Billy Eppler to fire manager Brad Ausmus and he was behind the decision to hire Joe Maddon as manager. In February 2020, the Angels had reportedly agreed to be a part of a three-way trade that would have brought Ross Stripling and Joc Pederson to the Angels, but Moreno quashed the deal at the last minute.

There have also been accusations that Moreno didn’t invest properly in player development, including the international market, which contributed to the decline of the Angels’ farm system.

The sale also casts questions over what the Angels will do with Ohtani, who is due to make at least $25 million in his final year of arbitration in 2022. After that, he could become a free agent.

It’s unclear how long a sale could take, but the value of the franchise could change based on whether the Angels have Ohtani and whether they have him signed to a long-term deal. Ohtani certainly would like to know about the future direction of the franchise before committing to a long-term deal, and that could be difficult to assess before a new owner is identified.

Related Articles

Moreno is also in the middle of a legal battle with the city of Anaheim of the proposed sale of Angel Stadium and the surrounding property from the city to a company run by Moreno’s family. The $320 million deal would have allowed the Angels to make upgrades to the ballpark or build a new one, and also to develop the surrounding area.

Former Anaheim mayor Henry Sidhu resigned amid an FBI corruption probe, and the deal was placed on hold.

The Angels currently have a lease from the city to play at Angel Stadium through 2029.

More to come on this story.