For a team owner to come out and say winning is not the fans’ top priority is quite bizarre. But Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno claimed exactly that.

In an interaction with The Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher, Moreno said winning is not among the fan’s top five priorities. His comment ignited a variety of reactions, including one from the MLBPA chief.

The newly appointed MLBPA boss Bruce Meyer told The Athletic, “To come out and say that winning is not a priority, not even in the top five priorities, is really pretty remarkable.”

According to The Orange County Register, Moreno based his comment on surveys they have supposedly conducted. Though the parameters of these surveys remain unclear.

Moreno said to Fletcher on Friday, “The number one thing fans want is affordability. They want affordability. They want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, winning is not in their top five.”

However, for obvious reasons including undermining the club’s winning mentality, Moreno’s comments did not exactly sit well with Meyer. Following his remark on Friday, Meyer met the Angels players on Sunday.

According to The Athletic, post that meeting Meyer said, “Let’s just say players took notice of it. And we took notice of it too.”

Meyer basically put the ownership on notice and asked them to step up their game when he added, “The bottom line is players are competitors. They grew up competing every day. They go out and they try their hardest to win every game. And players want to see owners doing the same thing.”

The Angels’ last postseason appearance came long back in 2014. With Moreno’s recent remarks questions arise on the ownership’s mentality to win games. Though Moreno claims that he would personally like to see the Angels win, he ponders about the current cost of winning.

The Angels are facing a revenue cut due to their current broadcasting issues. The franchise had shifted from Fox to Main Street Sports which is now going through bankruptcy. The Angels are not televising any of their Spring Training games as well.

The franchise’s payroll has also declined from approximately $206 million, per Fangraphs, to around $155 million. As per Moreno, the reduced payroll is direct consequence of the loss of revenue.

The MLBPA chief, however, finds Moreno’s reasonings futile.

Meyer did not mince his words when he said, “If you can’t have a successful operation in Los Angeles, it’s hard to see what the problem is. It’s easy to make excuses. But certainly the Los Angeles Angels have resources to compete in every respect.”

Not only the MLBPA chief, Moreno’s remarks drew criticism from former baseball players like Kevin Pillar as well.

Ex-Angels player urges Moreno to sell the team

In the backdrop of Arte Moreno’s recent remarks, former MLB player Kevin Pillar thinks he should sell the team.

Pillar spent a major part of his 2024 season playing for the Los Angeles Angels. Out of 100 games he played, Pillar played 83 for the Angels.

In an episode of The Foul Territory, Pillar said he can’t think of a purpose for the survey Moreno talked about. To Pillar winning is non-negotiable in addition to safety and affordability.

Moreno has been the franchise owner since 2003 and the Angels have missed the postseason since 2014. His recent remarks don’t help in a situation like this.

Pillar did not hide his disdain with the ownership when he said, “He just needs to get rid of the team because he really doesn’t really care about the Angels, and obviously franchise values are going way up right now… hopefully someone just kind of blows them away with an offer here soon and we could kind of move past the story.”

The former player also had high praise for the Angels, calling it one of the best places to play baseball. Pillar also called the fans ‘passionate’ which is a bonus to the beautiful weather.