At long last, Los Angeles Angels fans have finally heard the news they’ve been waiting years to hear: Arte Moreno has sold the team to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

This long-overdue changing of the guard signals the start of a new era for the Angels. Unfortunately, this new era could also mean moving on from Mike Trout.

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout may be traded now that the team is under new ownership. AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea

ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney alluded to this in an article published Tuesday, when he was asked whether Moreno selling the Angels to Kroenke makes it more likely that Trout will be playing playoff baseball in the near future.

“One way or another, absolutely,” Olney wrote. “Trout always has the option to try to force his way off the Angels, and a new owner is more likely to consider that path than Moreno, who was never going to trade a future inner-circle Hall of Famer and the face of his franchise — and so that could now be a more viable option.”

Los Angeles owner Stan Kroenke purchased the Angels for an MLB record $4 billion, a shade more than the $3.9 billion the San Diego Padres recently went for. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

For what it’s worth, Olney said that it’s more likely that Trout sticks around after the Angels’ sale.

One would assume that if the choice was up to him, Trout would at least want to see how the Angels operate under new ownership, since his whole career has been spent under Moreno’s mediocre reign.

Not to mention that Kroenke trading Trout would not produce the positive impression he’ll likely seek from Angels fans.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters