Arte Moreno was asked at a spring training press conference what his priorities were for Angels fans in 2026. He gave an answer. Affordability came up. Safety at the park. The family atmosphere. A quality experience at the stadium.
Winning was not among the five things he mentioned.
I've read the quote several times now to make sure I'm not taking it out of context. I'm not. The owner of a professional baseball franchise, whose team has missed the playoffs for eleven consecutive seasons, was asked about his priorities and produced a list that a moderately ambitious theme park could also claim.
The thing is, this actually explains quite a lot. It explains the $60 million sitting unused below the luxury tax while Lucas Giolito — a legitimate frontline starter who would address the rotation's single biggest problem — has been available for months and signed nowhere. It explains the payroll being cut heading into a year Minasian has publicly called important. You do not spend money on winning if winning is not among your stated priorities. The logic is internally consistent, which is almost worse.
Shohei Ohtani left. He didn't leave for money — the Angels offered him more than the Dodgers did. He left because he spent six years in this organisation evaluating whether it was capable of building a winner around him, and he concluded that it wasn't. The $700 million contract he signed 45 minutes up the freeway was not a rejection of Anaheim — it was a verdict on the franchise.
Moreno's press conference statement is the same verdict, delivered from the inside.
I don't think he's malicious. I think he genuinely believes he's running a good organisation that treats fans well. The concessions are decent, the park is nice, the tickets are affordable by California standards. If your definition of success is a pleasant afternoon out, the Angels probably deliver that reasonably often.
But that's not what a baseball team is for. It's not what Mike Trout spent the best years of his career here for. It's not what the fans who have renewed their season tickets through eleven straight losing seasons showed up for.
Winning doesn't have to be the only priority. It probably shouldn't be. But it has to be on the list.