In the spring of 2023, three years before his decision to sell the Los Angeles Angels prompted rejoicing among fans, players and local officials, Arte Moreno fielded a question in the bowels of an aging Tempe Diablo Stadium about the future of his franchise. Shohei Ohtani stood one year away from free agency. The Angels had yet to capitalize on his two-way brilliance, and Moreno sounded uncertain of how to value the generational talent.“He’s arguably the most unique player,” Moreno said. “And probably one of the top five or 10 players. It’s a business.”Over the past decade, as the Angels descended from a perennial contender into a laughingstock, the man at the center of the decline was Moreno, according to interviews with current and former Angels officials, rival executives and others around the game, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss their former team or another team.Moreno meddled in baseball decisions. His occasional free-agent splurges obscured an organizational myopia that left his team with scant investments in staffing, analytical advancements and technological necessities. A toxic culture spilled into public view during the trials after Tyler Skaggs’ death. His ballpark and facilities fell into disrepair, a situation that may be remedied under the stewardship of new owner Stan Kroenke, who entered an agreement to purchase the team this week at a $4 billion valuation.But perhaps no situation crystallized Moreno’s blind spots more than his handling of Ohtani. Eight months after Moreno suggested Ohtani might belong among baseball’s 10 best players, Ohtani collected a second American League MVP award and hit the open market. Teams across the sport lined up to recruit him. Despite a belief among some within the organization that Ohtani wanted to stay in Anaheim, the Angels were not one of them. When Ohtani sought a $700 million package that deferred 98 percent of the salary, Moreno declined to engage. He did not believe the contract made business sense.The relationship between Moreno and Shohei Ohtani began with great promise. Ohtani’s successes, however, came elsewhere in Southern California. (Josh Lefkowitz / Getty Images)The Los Angeles Dodgers felt differently. In Ohtani’s first two seasons as a Dodger, he captured two more MVP trophies and the team became the first back-to-back World Series champions since 2000. With Ohtani on the marquee, the franchise transformed Dodger Stadium into a money machine covered in Japanese advertisements and mobbed each afternoon by tour groups.Thirty miles to the south, the Angels languish. The team has not made the postseason since 2014. They might finish 2026 with the worst record in baseball and their first 100-loss campaign. Under Moreno, the Angels squandered the prime of Mike Trout and failed to exploit the black swan event that was Ohtani.The agitation of the team’s fanbase boiled to the surface this summer. For months, boisterous fellows at Angels Stadium peeled off their shirts and begged Moreno to sell. Their prayers have been answered. The promise of Kroenke, a multi-sport magnate who has won championships in the NBA, NHL and NFL, provided some of the optimism expressed this week. But any new owner was likely to be championed, so great was the dissatisfaction. No longer will the franchise be gripped by the vise of Arte Moreno.In recent years, rival team executives viewed negotiations with Angels officials as akin to hunting a moving target. Some saw calls with general manager Perry Minasian as a waste of time. A proposed trade could vanish at any moment — if Moreno changed his mind. The executive class views meddling from the owner’s suite as part of the job. But many saw the Angels as an outlier.And so the target was far from stationary when Minasian considered trading Ohtani during the summer of 2023, as his free agency approached. The Tampa Bay Rays emerged as the most assertive bidder and proposed moving top infield prospects Junior Caminero and Carson Williams for two months with Ohtani. But the discussion fizzled out when Moreno intervened, as The Athletic reported earlier this year.It was not the first time Moreno scuttled an Ohtani proposal. The year before, the San Diego Padres expressed interest in Ohtani. The discussions involved outfielder Jackson Merrill, among other prospects, but never progressed. Moreno would not permit a trade. The Padres pivoted to acquire Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals for a package that included future All-Stars C.J. Abrams, James Wood and MacKenzie Gore.The 80-year-old Moreno had not always been viewed as an impediment. The son of Mexican immigrants and a veteran of the Vietnam War, Moreno made his fortune in the billboard business. In 2003, a year after the Angels won their only World Series, he purchased the club from the Walt Disney Company for $182.5 million. The team remained stable for more than a decade and won six American League West titles. The past 12 seasons have been far less enjoyable. After a 98-win campaign in 2014, general manager Jerry Dipoto resigned amid a power struggle with manager Mike Scioscia. The tenures of the two subsequent chief baseball executives, Billy Eppler and Minasian, were marred by Moreno’s intrusions, sources said.