While the injury of Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) has sparked a “blame theory” for the club’s mismanagement, local media and former players have been criticizing the Angels’ inefficient management.

In a recent article titled “A Decade of Misery,” ESPN reporter Alden Gonzalez wrote, “The last decade has been a very unhappy one for the Angels, thanks in large part to the poor investments and management of owner Art Moreno, 77. Gonzalez is a former Angels reporter for an L.A.-area newspaper and is known to have a keen eye on the team’s fortunes.

“Moreno has favored inexperience in every managerial appointment,” he said, noting that the Angels have acquired a total of 321 players through the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft between 2012 and the 2020 season, when former novices Jerry Deport and Billy Eppler were managers, and only David Fletcher (29) is still in the Angels’ minor league system.

“The majority of the Angels’ starting pitchers during this period were acquired through the free agent market,” Gonzalez continued, “and despite their high name value, the Angels’ starting pitching staff from 2015 through 2020 had the lowest WAR in the league.” That’s not just a failure to develop players, it’s a failure to acquire them.

Former Angels pitcher C. J. Wilson, 43, saw the article and responded to the fan comments with his own experience.

Wilson, who played for the Angels for four years starting in 2012, wrote on his social media accounts, “The Angels organization did not provide breakfast until the second week of spring training in 2012. They didn’t even have a weight room at camp until 2013. My former team, Texas, was 100 percent fully equipped.”

When asked by fans to tell us more, Wilson said, “Imagine that. Imagine what it’s like to be told in spring training, ‘Just run your ass off to get to first base, run hard, and you’ll be in great shape,’ and then to be told, ‘Show up at 8 a.m. and be ready to go, and if you’re hungry, grab some fast food on the way,'” Wilson added.

Wilson, a left-handed pitcher who made his major league debut in a Texas uniform in 2005, joined the Angels as a free agent in late 2011. In 11 years in the big leagues, including five straight double-digit win seasons from 2010-2014, he went 94-70 with a 3.74 ERA in 444 games before retiring after the 2016 season.

Wilson’s revelations continued. “The Angels previously turned down a request by Albert Pujols (43-retired) to purchase an indoor running machine (Transmil) because it was too expensive,” he said. This is absolutely ridiculous,” he quipped. The machine was reportedly priced at $70,000 (approximately $93.1 million).

At the time, Pujols’ contract was worth $250 million over 10 years. The fact that a club that can afford to pay this much money would not purchase a $70,000 machine simply because it was expensive could be interpreted as a sign of inefficient management and lack of investment.

Moreno, who bought the Angels in 2003, is a native of Tucson, Arizona, descended from Mexican immigrants. He reportedly made his fortune in the billboard advertising business with money he earned while serving in the Vietnam War.

Reviews of him are mixed. Forbes, an American business magazine, said of Moreno, “He has shown remarkable management skills, doubling the Angels’ revenue in less than three years since taking over. It’s especially remarkable that he did it without building a new stadium.토토사이트

On the other hand, some fans have criticized Moreno for his stingy management since taking over, saying that the Angels have not reached the World Series in 20 years and have only made six postseason appearances.