"Arte Moreno is so cheap"; "Mike Trout rotting his prime" - Fans in shock as Yusei Kikuchi & others expose franchise for denying basic amenities

The Los Angeles Angels failed to make the postseason for an 11th consecutive season, the longest active streak in baseball. Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi has added fuel to the fire with his latest comments.

Last week, Kikuchi complained about the lack of air conditioning in the weight room, which led to his finger issue during his last start of the season.

Former Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar echoed Kikuchi's sentiments on the "Foul Territory" podcast, calling out the lack of basic amenities at the franchise's facilities.

"I was there, the AC was working there, but the inner workings of the clubhouse, the weight room, the hot tub always had problems too," Pillar said. "Arte Moreno definitely needs to spend some money and fix that internal workings at the clubhouse, the weight room, the locker room. I mean, it's a big selling point to get players and and the Angels is very, very far behind."

Fans reacted to the Angels players exposing the team's shortcomings.

"Trout rotting his prime in Anaheim. FeelsBadMan."

"Arte is so cheap lol."

"Air conditioning shouldn’t even be considered an amenity in a weight room. That’s a utility that should be a requirement."

"Arte Moreno is a slumlord like Donald Sterling. @MLB needs to force him to sell the team to an owner who cares."

"Pocked billion dollars from Shohei to not build a team around him and Mike and not even have basic stuff."

Former MLB general manager picks Aaron Judge over Mike Trout

Former New York Mets general manager Steve Philps picked New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge over Mike Trout despite the Angels slugger being one of the best hitters in the game for almost a decade.

Philps gave the edge to Judge, saying the Yankees slugger has driven the team to the postseason a few times, unlike the three-time Angels MVP.

"Judge has taken a New York team, put them on his shoulders, and taken them to the postseason, he has not been great in the postseason, but he's gotten there," Philips said. "I think that when I look at the entire picture and look at pure hitting, I think Judge is the better overall player."

With Trout turning 34 this August, the Angels needs to build a competitive roster around him if they want their superstar to get a first taste of postseason in Anaheim.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash