[ctorg]

Here's how I see it for real baseball (slightly different from OOTP):

The top goal is putting fans in the seats (either at the stadium or on their couches), and the best way to do that is to win games, so those two goals go together very harmoniously. A championship is a way of building your team's mythology up, and it brings in more interest and fans.

These are the top goals, but they are not the only goals. Surely having a special player - a franchise player - accounts for something. It gives the team a face, an identity.

As for OOTP, the goal is whatever you want it to be. You don't have to play to win. You can play to watch old guys perform badly if you want, or to accomplish the ultimate goal of collecting all players with a last name beginning with E. There's no money at stake and no one but you will ultimately care.