Owner Arte Moreno willing to take blame for Angels’ slow start

Arte Moreno has placed blame for the team’s brutal 2013 start, its failure to make the playoffs for three straight years and several high-priced moves that have paid minimal dividends on the one person the Angels owner can’t fire:

Himself.

“If you’re going to blame anyone, you’ve got to blame me,” Moreno told FoxSports.com on Wednesday in New York, where he is attending the owners’ meetings. “I’m the one at the end of the day that has the final call.”

Moreno orchestrated the signing of first baseman Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240-million deal before 2012. And it was Moreno who, after letting Torii Hunter become a free agent and pulling out of the bidding for free-agent pitcher Zack Greinke, flew to Texas to close a five-year, $125-million deal for right fielder Josh Hamilton last December.

Hamilton entered Wednesday with a .214 average, five homers and 12 runs batted in. Pujols was hitting .242 with six homers and 22 RBIs. The slumps were putting a drag on a team that had baseball’s third-worst record (15-24) through Tuesday.

The commitment to Hamilton also prevented General Manager Jerry Dipoto from spending more freely to upgrade a pitching staff that entered Wednesday with a 4.66 earned-run average, third-worst in the American League.

Which is why it wasn’t too surprising that Moreno said the jobs of Manager Mike Scioscia, who is signed through 2018, and Dipoto, in his second year as GM, are safe for now.

“Right now, zero,” Moreno said, when asked the chances of an in-season change of managers. “This is his 14th year. Mike goes beyond what he does on the field. He’s a good person. He’s a good person in the community, a very good baseball guy.

“Look at 14 years’ worth of productivity. Look at his record. He has two World Series rings with the Dodgers. He has one with the Angels. We’ve been to the playoffs.”

But the Angels have not been to the postseason since 2009, and with one of baseball’s highest payrolls — $159 million in 2012, $148 million this season — and World Series aspirations, they have been a major disappointment.

The Angels have been devastated by injuries, losing ace Jered Weaver, relievers Ryan Madson, Sean Burnett and Kevin Jepsen, center fielder Peter Bourjos and shortstop Erick Aybar for extended periods. And Pujols has been slowed by a sore left foot and right knee.

“If everybody on the team was hitting .300, and the pitchers were undefeated, and all our relievers had done a good job and we’d made no errors, we wouldn’t be in this conversation,” said Moreno, who declined an interview request by The Times last week.

Moreno also refused to cast blame on Dipoto, saying his conversations with the GM have focused on “who is going to be healthy enough to play. There are a lot of underlying things we need to fix and adjust in the organization.”

Scioscia said the vote of confidence won’t change the way he goes about his job.

“Arte has always been very supportive,” Scioscia said. “He knows how hard I take the non-performance of this team. It hits me as hard as it hits Arte and Jerry. We’re going to take this challenge and, hopefully, start moving forward.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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