Shohei Ohtani’s departure in free agency is seen by most as a foregone conclusion, particularly on the heels of comments made earlier this spring, heavily implying the Angels are more committed to their bottom line than winning, routinely fielding inferior teams with no hope of contending for a World Series. Still, the Angels insist they’re not interested in trading their star slugger, content to let Ohtani play out the season in Anaheim and let the chips fall where they may.
“I will say it on the record. We will not trade Ohtani while we are contending for a playoff spot,” Arte Moreno told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci. “We expect to be a playoff contender. Everything in our plans putting this team together is about getting to the playoffs. So, I’m not going to sit here and wonder what happens in an outcome we’re not planning for. That would be like a fighter going into the ring and thinking, ‘What if I lose?’ If he does that, he will lose.”
The fact is, the Angels haven’t made the playoffs in nine years, squandering two of the most prolific talents the sport has ever produced in Ohtani and three-time MVP Mike Trout. Saddling Trout and Ohtani, year after year, with flawed rosters and even worse coaching is tragic bordering on criminal, a shameful misallocation of resources for a team and fanbase that deserves better. Indicative of the chaos surrounding an organization synonymous with underachievement, Moreno put his team on the market last fall, only to reverse course months later.
“I’m walking these [bidders] around the stadium. We’re on the field, looking around the stadium and I’m thinking, How many guys ever get a chance to do this?” said Moreno, who claims he turned down at least three offers exceeding the record $2.42 billion Steve Cohen paid for the Mets in 2020. “If I’m going to stay. I have to make a decision that we have to do better. We’re just not doing well enough.”
Early estimates for Ohtani’s next deal are like nothing we’ve ever seen, with Buster Olney suggesting he could command up to $600 million. That amount would be unprecedented, but if anyone is deserving of that mammoth commitment, it’s Ohtani, arguably the most effective pitcher/position player hybrid in league history (apologies to early 20th-century dual threat Babe Ruth).
“People ask me, ‘Shouldn’t you get something?’ But we get to see him every day. That’s not nothing. These people get to come and watch the best players. They’re going to tell their grandkids, ‘I saw Ohtani play,’” said Moreno, seemingly resigned to Ohtani’s inevitable departure next offseason. “I think Ohtani’s had fun here. I think he likes the lifestyle of Southern California. But as he said, ‘I just want to win.’”
This could be posturing on Moreno’s part, a clever negotiating ploy to drive up Ohtani’s price. But if it’s not, letting Ohtani walk for nothing (save for the compensatory pick the Angels would receive for extending him the qualifying offer) would be an egregious misstep, a staggering display of incompetence by a team that was dealt the winning hand but folded before the turn.
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