The buck stops with Moreno

We called Arte Moreno to talk about Mark Teixeira. He wanted to talk about Jeff Mathis.

We wanted to talk about a big bat, and why the Angels must play on without one. The conversation went a long way toward explaining why Teixeira isn’t here, Alex Rodriguez isn’t coming and Bill Stoneman isn’t leaving.

The July 31 trading deadline is a big deal in some cities. In Anaheim, no deal, year in and year out. The joke is tired and worn now, the one about how the Angels’ general manager truly is a stone man.

Stoneman rarely makes a trade, in July or in any other month, protecting his prospects above all. He made his best trade only because he had to make a trade, dumping problem child Jose Guillen on the Washington Nationals for Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis.

Yet Moreno has heard enough of the see-no-trade, hear-no-trade, make-no-trade caricature of Stoneman.

“It’s not like Bill is in a little bubble and just says, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ ” Moreno said.

In Anaheim, Moreno is The Boss, just not with bluster. The owner does not advertise his deep involvement in baseball operations, but in the three weeks preceding the trading deadline he spoke with Stoneman every day.

“Some days, five or six times a day,” Moreno said.

Stoneman consults with his scouts. Mike Scioscia, the manager, consults with his coaches. Moreno assesses the consensus.

When Stoneman says no to Teixeira, Moreno already has said no.

“I could have told Bill, ‘I want this thing done and send them three players,’ ” Moreno said. “But, if all the advice I’m getting from the people I pay is not to make the deal and I’m not listening to them, why are they there?”

Teixeira had turned down $140 million over eight years to stay in Texas, according to Rangers owner Tom Hicks. When he hits free agency next fall, he and agent Scott Boras might seek $200 million.

So, as the Angels evaluated which players they might include in a trade, Scioscia asked if they should expect to re-sign Teixeira.

“I don’t believe we can,” Moreno said. “We get him for two months this year, and next year, and then you have to negotiate with Scott Boras.”

What if Teixeira can get the Angels into the World Series this year or next year? Isn’t that worth it?

“If you could guarantee me a World Series, we’re going to empty out everything,” Moreno said. “Does he get us to the World Series if we don’t have the pitching?”

Even with Bartolo Colon injured and Ervin Santana demoted, the Angels agreed to package pitcher Joe Saunders with first baseman Casey Kotchman for Teixeira.

The Rangers asked for a third player -- Santana, second baseman Howie Kendrick, third baseman Brandon Wood or top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart. When the Rangers declined to consider other players, the Angels bowed out, and Teixeira was traded to the Atlanta Braves.

Suppose the Angels could get that big bat without giving up any young players. They could, if Rodriguez opts out of his contract with the New York Yankees this fall. The contract pays him $27 million annually, through 2010.

“If he’s opting out of a $27-million contract, don’t you think they’re expecting more?” Moreno said.

If they are -- by they, he means Rodriguez and his agent, Boras -- Moreno said they won’t be getting it from the Angels.

“Right now, I don’t see a $20-million player on our team,” Moreno said. “We have the fourth-highest payroll. We don’t have the fourth-highest revenue.”

Moreno said he would prefer to spend his money on contract extensions for Vladimir Guerrero and Francisco Rodriguez, taking care of the players that have taken care of the Angels. But he values the development of an organizational culture beyond the stars.

This, after all, is an owner who attends Arizona Fall League games to check out his team’s prospects. This is an owner who tells you that Kendrick and Wood became close friends as minor league teammates, that Mathis can be comfortable replacing the injured Mike Napoli because he caught so many of the Angels’ pitchers in the minors, that Mathis and Napoli eventually can compete for playing time without friction because they were minor league roommates.

“If you look at the Angels historically, they’ve always traded young talent for a Band-Aid or an aging superstar,” Moreno said. “Very rarely have they been in a situation to really build the organization. I really believe that’s a big part of what we’re doing. There’s real good chemistry here.”

And, however empty his trade scorecard, Stoneman is the man most responsible for building the organization.

Stoneman’s contract as general manager expires this fall, but Moreno said last spring Stoneman could stay beyond then if he liked. Another trading deadline has come and gone, and Moreno says he has not wavered on that invitation.

“I’m 100% there,” Moreno said.

There is more to the Angels than a big bat, or the lack thereof. Enough already, he says.

We talk about a big bat, and he talks about a franchise with the fourth-highest payroll and the 18th-highest average ticket price, about fans filling Angel Stadium almost to capacity, about a minor league system regularly replenishing the major league club and about a team on the verge of an unprecedented fourth consecutive winning season.

“It’s amazing to me we have to continue to defend ourselves when we’re in first place,” he said. “I think the health of this organization is the best it’s ever been, and people are questioning how we’re running the club?

“It doesn’t all come down to one bat.”

Yet Moreno last summer said he would “guarantee we’re going to do something major.” The biggest bat traded this summer did not come to Anaheim. The biggest bat that might be available this fall probably won’t come to Anaheim, either.

Moreno offers his regrets for the guarantee, in words seldom heard in baseball, in the owner’s suite or the clubhouse.

“I made a mistake,” he said, “and opened my mouth.”

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com