Los Angeles Angels Players met on Sunday to discuss the recent comments of owner Arte Moreno, who said that fans value “affordability” in the ballpark experience over winning. Bruce Meyer, the new director of the MLB Players Association, was also present at the meeting, which was reported on by Sam Blum of The Athletic.
“Let’s just say players took notice of it,” Meyer said to Blum. “And we took notice of it too.”
Moreno’s statements don’t represent anything new here. What is new is that the owner cited a survey conducted by the team that says that fans “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.”
But Moreno wouldn’t disclose the source of the survey, and Angels declined to comment when asked about specifics of the survey.
There were also reports that it was Blum who pressed the owner for the source and details, and he’s also reported that the Angels slashed payroll from approximately $206 million, according to FanGraphs. It’s around $155 million when accounting for deferred payments to former third baseman Anthony Rendon, who retired in the offseason after reaching a contract settlement with the Angels. The current luxury tax threshold is $244 million, and reports have the Angels spending just $20 million on free agents this offseason, with most of that money going to players who were given low-cost minor league deals.
The team also has a crisis of sorts with its local media partner, Main Street Sports Group, which missed payments this offseason to several small market teams. Most of the nine teams partnered with Main Street have since signed on to have their games broadcast by MLB.TV, but the Angels haven’t announced a television partner and aren’t broadcasting any spring training games.
The union sees the Angels as a particular concern given that they play in a major market but don’t spend anything close to the other big-market teams.
“If you can’t have a successful operation in Los Angeles, it’s hard to see what the problem is,” Meyer said. “It’s easy to make excuses, but certainly the Los Angeles Angels have resources to compete in every respect.
“To come out and say that winning is not a priority, not even in the top five priorities, is really pretty remarkable.”
The Angels haven’t responded to Moreno’s latest comments, and he also told reporters on Friday that winning is “his own personal priority,” according to Blum, but Moreno also suggested that it might not be “financially feasible.”
Noone really knows where this is going to go next. Meyer is new to his job, and he’s under pressure to get results and prevent a possible lockout next year. Players like pitcher Yusei Kikuchi have commented on the Angels’ subpar facilities, specifically broken air conditioning in the team’s weight room, so he’s the player most likely to make the sharpest comments.
It’s definitely something to watch as spring training unfolds, and it will be interesting to see who says what going forward and where this issue stands when the real games start at the end of March.