admin“Ohtani will leave the Angels as a free agent”
It’s already starting to look like Japanese major leaguer Shohei Ohtani (29) and his team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, won’t be reunited next year.
The Angels had just signed slugger Mike Trout (32) to a massive 12-year, $426.5 million extension. It remains the only $400 million contract in Major League Baseball history, a record that has yet to be broken. The Angels have the deep pockets to treat their free agents like royalty.
Of course, Ohtani will likely break the record when he becomes a free agent after this season. That said, it’s unlikely that the Angels will let him go for money. Nevertheless, there are already predictions that Ohtani won’t stay with the Angels. Here’s why.
“The chances of Ohtani wearing an Angels uniform beyond the 2023 season are much lower than the Angels’ chances of reaching the postseason this year,” Sporting News reported on Nov. 11, predicting that Ohtani will exercise his free agency rights and leave the Angels.
Baseball Reference, a statistical site specializing in American baseball, gives the Angels a 1.2 percent chance of making the postseason. Fangraphs gives the Angels a 1.9% chance of making the postseason, which is even lower than that, so it’s almost like they’re giving Ohtani a 0% chance of staying.
Sporting News reports that “Ohtani is tired of losing. He wants to win,” and “If you watched him play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) this spring, the joy on his face, the intensity of his performance, and the way he threw out his Angels teammate Trout at the plate to seal Japan’s victory is one of the most iconic moments in baseball in the past decade.” Ohtani’s passion for winning is evident.
Ohtani is hoping to win his first World Series title, as he did in March when he led Japan to victory in the WBC, but he has never experienced the postseason in an Angels uniform. “The Angels have given no indication over the past six years that they are ready to win a championship on a consistent basis,” he told Sporting News.
The biggest culprit is Angels owner Art Moreno. “The blame lies with Moreno,” Sporting News said. The Angels needed a miracle to make it to the postseason, but they chose not to trade Ohtani. It was a bad decision,” and “the Angels could have gotten three or four young players by parting ways with Ohtani,” criticizing the Angels for not making a realistic choice.바카라사이트
At one point, it was reported that the Angels were “open to trading Ohtani,” but the Angels ultimately decided not to and went all-in on a postseason run. However, their postseason run still seems elusive. With 58 wins and just a .500 record, the Angels are still in fourth place in the American League West.