After years of losing and squandered opportunities, Arte Moreno finally delivered the result Angels fans wanted most: his exit.

When Moreno agreed Tuesday to sell controlling interest in the Angels to Stan Kroenke, supporters celebrated like they had won a championship.

To understand why, return to 2003.

Moreno bought the defending World Series champions from Disney for $183.5 million, becoming Major League Baseball’s first Latino majority owner. He cut beer prices, increased payroll and added Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar.

The Angels won five AL West titles between 2004 and 2009 and set a franchise record with 100 victories in 2008. Moreno appeared capable of pleasing fans while multiplying his investment.

The cracks appeared after that run ended.

In 2011, the Angels traded Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera for Vernon Wells, assuming $81 million of the $86 million remaining on his contract. Wells struggled while Napoli became an All-Star and helped Texas reach the World Series.

Moreno responded by spending bigger. The Angels signed Albert Pujols for 10 years and $240 million, then added Josh Hamilton for five years and $125 million. Pujols never approached his MVP production from St. Louis, while Hamilton lasted only two seasons.

The Angels became the Twilight Zone version of a contender, collecting all the trappings of success while remaining bizarrely incapable of experiencing it.

Mike Trout made the illusion convincing. He became one of baseball’s greatest players and won three MVP awards. In 2014, the Angels posted an MLB-best 98 victories and returned to October.

Then came the cruel twist. Kansas City swept them in the AL Division Series, Trout went 1-for-12 and the postseason door slammed shut.

General manager Jerry Dipoto resigned amid an internal power struggle the following season. The Angels finished 85-77, one game short of the playoffs, and have not posted a winning record since. By 2016, Angels fan sites were already documenting calls for Moreno to sell.

The premise became more absurd in 2018, when the Angels won the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. Pairing an unprecedented two-way sensation with Trout should have produced a perennial contender.

Instead, the Angels employed two players capable of almost anything without constructing a winning team around them.

The individual awards accumulated. The October appearances did not.

The organization’s problems took a darker turn in 2019, when pitcher Tyler Skaggs died from an accidental overdose after receiving a fentanyl-laced pill from Angels communications director Eric Kay. Kay was later convicted and sentenced to 22 years. Skaggs’ family alleged the organization knew about Kay’s drug problems, which the Angels denied.

Months later, the Angels signed Anthony Rendon for seven years and $245 million. Injuries turned it into another debilitating contract. In 2020, the club furloughed most of its scouts and numerous player-development employees, deepening criticism that Moreno purchased stars while neglecting the system beneath them.

By 2022, the failures had spread beyond baseball. Anaheim canceled a proposed stadium and land sale after former mayor Harry Sidhu admitted leaking confidential information to Angels representatives. The Angels denied wrongdoing and were not charged.

Moreno then announced he was exploring a sale. Fans believed his exit was imminent. Instead, he ended the process in January 2023, citing unfinished business.

What followed exhausted the remaining goodwill.

Moreno refused to trade Ohtani before the 2023 deadline and authorized a last-ditch postseason push. The Angels acquired Lucas Giolito and other veterans, only for the season to collapse. By late August, they had placed Giolito and several additions on waivers.

Ohtani departed without the Angels receiving any prospect return. Moreno then declined to match the heavily deferred structure of the Dodgers’ $700 million proposal, allowing Ohtani to join their SoCal rival.

Ohtani won a championship during his first season with the Dodgers. The Angels lost a franchise-record 99 games.

By 2026, scattered frustration had become an organized revolt. Fans protested, wore paper bags and filled Angel Stadium with chants demanding Moreno’s departure. During one game, shirtless fans yelling “Sell the team” became louder than the television broadcast.

The Angels are headed toward an 11th consecutive losing season and a 12th straight year without reaching the playoffs.

Moreno, meanwhile, will leave with approximately $4 billion — more than 21 times what he paid.

He did not fail as an investor. He won spectacularly. The franchise absorbed the losses.

That explains why Angels fans celebrated his exit. Moreno inherited a champion, built a contender and earned their trust. He then spent more than a decade exhausting it, one failed contract, wasted superstar season and organizational crisis at a time.