{"id":795806,"date":"2026-09-03T19:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/795806\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T19:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:36:17","slug":"why-tarik-skubal-thinks-stan-kroenke-will-turn-angels-into-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/795806\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Tarik Skubal thinks Stan Kroenke will turn Angels into destination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his first offseason as the Angels<\/a>\u2019 owner, Arte Moreno<\/a> landed the best player available in free agency<\/a>: Vladimir Guerrero, the only player to wear an Angels cap on a Hall of Fame plaque.<\/p>\n

Could Stan Kroenke<\/a> do the same thing in his first offseason as the Angels\u2019 owner?<\/p>\n

Kroenke is not expected to be approved as Moreno\u2019s successor until early next year. By then, players might be in spring training \u2014 or might still be sitting home, awaiting the end of a lockout and a subsequent free-agent signing frenzy.<\/p>\n

The best player in this fall\u2019s free-agent class is certain of one thing: Whenever Kroenke takes over, Anaheim instantly becomes a preferred destination for stars across the major leagues, with a new owner not just promising to spend to win but a demonstrated history of doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Dodgers<\/a> pitcher Tarik Skubal<\/a> told The Times. \u201cNot only an owner that has obvious financial backing, but an owner that has turned the Rams into what the Rams are<\/a>. I think they\u2019re the Super Bowl favorite this year. There\u2019s an owner that cares about winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact he brings to the Angels? You bring an owner that really cares about winning and is willing to do whatever it takes to win and invest, not only with players on the field but all the stuff behind the scenes, like clubhouse renovations. I\u2019m sure there will be a lot of stuff there that changes to make it state-of-the-art, because all that stuff matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Perry Minasian<\/a>, the Angels\u2019 general manager from 2021-26, the largest free-agent signing approved by Moreno: pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, for $63 million.<\/p>\n

Kroenke would be the richest owner in baseball, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $24 billion.<\/p>\n

Skubal said he is focused on helping the Dodgers toward a third consecutive World Series championship and has not thought much about his free agency. Speaking generally, he said, it is likely that players that might not have considered signing with the Angels might now do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to feel wanted,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cAnd you have an owner that is willing to do whatever it takes to win. Winning is the most important thing in sports. When you get yourself in that environment, I think guys do want to play there.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust look around the league: Guys tend to gravitate toward teams that are winning and teams that are in the playoff hunt every single year, with World Series aspirations every single year. I think free agents gravitate toward that in general. I\u2019m sure that will be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the players\u2019 viewpoint, the successive sales of major league franchises at record values \u2014 the San Diego Padres at $3.9 billion<\/a>, then the Angels at $4 billion \u2014 reflects good economic times. From the owners\u2019 standpoint, the mid-market Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA just sold at a $4.5 billion valuation.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Rob Manfred has cited lagging franchise values in baseball as a reason owners want a salary cap, which the NBA has. Yet the Padres and Angels sold before their owners found out whether they could secure the salary cap the league insists is a primary objective in collective bargaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty obvious what that says, right?\u201d said Skubal, one of eight players on the union\u2019s executive subcommittee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s the complaint that ownership and MLB is holding onto, I think they\u2019re proving themselves wrong by selling these teams for record values. I think those clubs selling continues to support the argument that our game is in a really good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The owners also pitch a salary cap as a tonic for competitive balance, citing what they say is a $441-million gap between the Dodgers\u2019 top-ranked payroll and the Miami Marlins\u2019 bottom-ranked payroll.<\/p>\n

The players point to franchise sales as another economic indicator. The Padres last sold for $800 million, in 2012. The Angels last sold for $183.5 million, in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very profitable business venture,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cThe sport itself is great. The product on the field is outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his first offseason as the Angels\u2019 owner, Arte Moreno landed the best player available in free agency:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[291,11478,5,97530,147,53,2583,350,13347,1600,4,17273,97529,34437,954,97367,7480,382,235,594],"class_list":["post-795806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-tigers","tag-angels","tag-arte-moreno","tag-baseball","tag-destination","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-detroittigers","tag-free-agent","tag-good-player","tag-major-league","tag-mlb","tag-owner","tag-record-value","tag-salary-cap","tag-skubal","tag-stan-kroenke","tag-stuff","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-team","tag-tigers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117208795323942466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}