What is the story about?
Good
morning.
- In a stunning move, Los Angeles Rams owner (among many other teams) Stan Kroenke has agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Angels for a record $4 billion. Rhett Bollinger reports.
- Gabe Lacques writes that with ownership of both the Rams and the Angels, Dodgers owner Mark Walter is no longer the king of LA sports.
- Ryan Phillips believes that Kroenke is the best owner that Angels fans could have hoped for.
- Besides the Rams and Angels, Kroenke owns Arsenal in the Premier League, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and other teams. Here’s is a list of his sporting portfolio.
- Brittany Ghiroli notes that with Kroenke buying the Angels, Mets owner Steve Cohen is no longer the richest owner in MLB. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
- Josh Peter calls soon-former Angels owner Arte Moreno as the “Worst Owner in Baseball.” Yet, as he notes, he bought the team for $183 million in 2003 and is selling it for $4 billion today, so even the worst owner in the game is making out like a bandit.
- Alden Gonzalez and Buster Olney explain what the sale means for the Angels and MLB.
- Russell Dorsey says brighter days are ahead for the Angels and their fans.
- Ken Rosenthal looks at several issues for Kroenke to deal with the Angels (The Athletic sub. req.) but tells Angels fans that the new boss can’t be as bad as the old one.
- Angels star Mike Trout says he’s eager for the “fresh start” that new ownership will bring. (The Athletic sub. req.) He also said he has four years left on his contract and he intends to remain an Angel.
- J.P. Hoonstra has five questions facing the Angels after the sale.
- It’s ironic that shortly before the Angels sale was announced yesterday, The Athletic writers Melody Gutierrez, Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal released about the Dodgers sale to Mark Walter 14 years ago. (The Athletic sub. req.) Walter’s finances have been under question with his sale of the Lakers, and this article claims that MLB owners had questions and were “unlikely” to have approved Walter as owner with his sketchy financing, but their hands were mostly tied by the bankruptcy court judge.
- Matt Snyder thinks that we should all just stop doomcasting. Both the owners and the players have too much to lose for there to be a long, extended work stoppage.
- Following up on a story from Monday, Red Sox radio announcer Will Flemming apologized for calling Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. “bush league” and arguing that Boston should throw at players and start a fight with Chisholm. Sort of. First he took time to complain about all the “calls and threats” he was getting over what he said. Ian Browne reports.
- Chisholm said that he had no desire to talk to Fleming and that not only did he not know who Fleming was but that “I’m still not going to remember who he is after today.”
- Speaking of apologizes, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte apologized to manager Torey Lovullo for the way he handled his absence last week. Marte was still booed by the home fans at Chase Field.
- Now to games. Brent Maguire explains what is at stake in September.
- Sarah Langs looks at what it means to be in first place on September 1.
- Anthony Castrovince has the ten most iconic records in baseball.
- Ben Clemens is impressed with Mets reliever Nate Lavender, who just made his major league debut on August 4.
- Jay Jaffe looks at how White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters has totally defied (low) expectations in his rookie campaign. Much has been made of how Peters is a former Savannah Banana, although he played for the Bananas when they were still a college wooden bat league team, although they did do a lot of wacky stuff before games and between innings.
- The White Sox also traded for outfielders Tommy Pham and Jake Cave. Both were still eligible to be traded because they were on minor league contracts. Scott Merkin reports.
- Likewise, the Orioles claimed former Mets outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off of waivers. Michael Baumann looks at why Baltimore did this and what they can expect from Robert.
- Bradford Doolittle wants to keep teams with losing records out of the postseason and offers some rules changes to prevent that from happening.
- Despite a terrible season from the Giants, team president Buster Posey announced that first-year manager Tony Vitello will be back next season.
- Guardians right-hander Carlos Hernández has missed all of 2025 after an off-season car accident in his native Venezuela. Hernández now reveals he was texting and driving when the accident happened and wants to serve as an example to others of what not to do.
- I wish it could have happened when the Reds were playing the Cubs, but Cincinnati third baseman Eugenio Suárez will miss two games as he takes his US citizenship test. Good luck, Geno!
- Beloved French “Voice of the Expos” Jacques Doucet has passed away at 86. Our sympathies go out to his friends, family, and all of you who still consider yourselves an Expos fan.
- And finally, if you want to feel old, 27-year-old Darren Baker has signed a minor league deal with the Giants. (Free The Athletic reg. req.) For those of you too young to remember, don’t rub it in. Also, Baker is the son of Dusty Baker who, at age 3, served as the Giants’ team batboy in the 2002 World Series and almost got run over at the plate were it not for a quick-thinking J.T. Snow. Baker is asked about that incident all the time but he always has the same response—he was too young to remember it.
