Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is facing criticism after remarks suggesting he may not be fully committed to winning and that his team’s fans have other priorities beyond seeing a contending team.
Speaking to reporters on Feb. 20, Moreno claimed that fan surveys show that Angels supporters don’t place much importance on having a winning team as part of their gameday experience.
With Moreno’s latest remarks, former MLB player Kevin Pillar, who spent the 2024 season with the Angels, is calling out the 79-year-old for thinking Angels fans don’t want to see a winning product.
“I don’t really know what the point of this kind of survey was, because, to me, winning is all fans should really care about, and that’s a non‑negotiable, much like going to the field and feeling safe and affordability,” Pillar said during an appearance on “Foul Territory” on Feb. 21.
“Maybe the list should have been like giveaways and concessions and things like that, because I have no idea what he’s talking about. I don’t think Arte Moreno realizes how great an asset he has.”
Arte Moreno Isn’t Prioritizing Putting Out a Winning Product
The Angels have missed the MLB postseason for eleven straight seasons, last reaching October baseball in 2014. Moreover, under Moreno’s ownership, Los Angeles wasted having Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in their prime and not even sniffing the postseason.
If that wasn’t a wakeup call for Moreno, then his thoughts on winning shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“The number one thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno said (h/t Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register). “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.
“The moms want to be able to afford to bring the kids. Moms make about 80% of the decisions. They want to be able to bring their kids and be affordable and they want safety and they want to have a good experience, so they get all the entertainment stuff or whatever. The purists, you know, it’s just straight winning. For me, I’ve always wanted to win. It’s just what’s the cost of winning right now?”
Arte Moreno Urged to Sell the Angels
Furthermore, Pillar spotlighted why the Angels are an ideal destination for a player if they only had an owner willing to spend the money needed to build a contending team.
“I got a chance to play there, and it is arguably one of the best places to play in baseball,” Pillar added. “Orange County, the weather is beautiful. The fans are very passionate. He doesn’t realize what he has because if he really cared about winning, it would be such a destination for players to want to come and play. It’s just a matter of time.
“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. I think there was a quote he came out with the other day that said he wasn’t actively shopping, but I think there’s a lot of people interested in buying. So hopefully someone just kind of blows them away with an offer here soon and we could kind of move past the story.”
Angels Owner Arte Moreno Faces Backlash After Latest Remarks