Angels’ GM Remains Hopeful in Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes, Despite Rangers and Dodgers’ Strong Lead for His Signature

Shohei Ohtani is the biggest name in baseball currently. The two-way phenom is looking to sign a $500 million contract this offseason. With an army of GMs behind him, it won’t be a surprise if he ends up signing a contract that could be even higher. Yet amidst all of this buzz, where does his former team, Los Angeles Angels, stand?

It’s a well-known fact that the Angels are not in a good place currently. With a long streak of missing playoffs, losing their star player would be the last thing they’d want to happen. Perhaps that’s why they’re taking bold steps to get him back to their fold.

Los Angeles Angels will try to keep Shohei Ohtani

To say that Shohei Ohtani was the best player of the Angels in 2023 would be an understatement. The player posted figures that have been unseen in the league. Dominating pitching as well as hitting, the Japanese star had an answer for everything.

Yet even then the Halos failed to enter playoffs again. It’s an astounding fact that Ohtani has never played a postseason game in his career. So now that he is a free agent, Ohtani has made it clear that he wants to join a winning team. And because of this, fans believed that the Angels were out of the race. 

Even after that, the Angels have not lost hope of getting back the Japanese icon and now their general manager had this to say while talking to USA Today about the Halos’ quest for Ohtani.

“Great player, I think there’s going to be a lot of attention on it,’’ Perry Minasian said. “And I understand why. We’ll see how the off-season develops. We’ve got our plan, and we’re going to try and execute that plan and we’ll see where everything goes.’’

In a column for the New York Post on October 26 titled “More contenders join $500 million Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes,” Jon Heyman, the baseball insider, identified the Texas Rangers, in addition to the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, as his top picks to acquire Ohtani.

So as it stands, Angels are in the race as well. Though they can offer stability to Ohtani, who likes his life in Anaheim, it is their lack of playoffs that might be a negative that he might not choose to overlook.

Reasons for the Angels’ lack of postseason

The Angels have one of the highest payrolls in the league, yet they have failed to make it into the playoffs since 2014. Though in that span they’ve had stars like Ohtani and Mike Trout with them.

Read more – Amidst Managerial History, Cubs Join Shohei Ohtani Race as Serious Contenders in a Surprise Bid

The failure of the team can be traced back to their failed strategies. The tactics of focusing on home runs had a negative impact on the team. So this has increased their strikeouts while failing to give too many run benefits. 

Apart from this, a lack of balanced roster management didn’t help the team to fully capitalize on the presence of stars in the team. All of this has led to the present situation of the Angels looking at their star leaving for greener pastures. Will Ohtani leave? Only time will tell.

Watch the Story –  Young Shohei Ohtani’s Journey To Elite Hitting Proving His Little League Coach Wrong