ANGEL STADIUM in Anaheim (File photo).

By Pete Zarustica/Orange County Tribune

The Los Angeles Angels have lost 70 games so far this season. Now it looks like the team and franchise may be losing an owner.

In a statement released on Tuesday, it was announced that owner Arte Moreno was pursuing “strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the team.”

ARTE MORENO (Wikipedia photo)

Moreno has owned the Angels since he bought the team from Walt Disney Co. in 2003 for $184 million.

Initially the team prospered, winning six division titles, but the Halos have been missing from the playoffs since 2014 and haven’t posted a winning record since 2015.

“It has been a great honor and privilege to own the Angels for 20 seasons,” Moreno said in a statement. “As an organization, we have worked to provide our fans an affordable and family-friendly ballpark experience while fielding competitive lineups, which included some of the game’s greatest players.”

Despite the grim record of the past seven seasons, the Angels have kept a strong fan base. They’ve had 3 million fans each season until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Even now, they’re averaging almost 31,000 fans per home game in a decaying stadium in Anaheim that’s the fourth-oldest in Major League baseball. 

Only Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles are older.

The search for a replacement for the “Big A” led to a controversial proposed deal in which the Angels would buy the stadium from the City of Anaheim and develop the land around it. A corruption scandal tied to the mayor killed that plan.