3 MLB teams that can’t miss their second chance at Shohei Ohtani
Los Angeles Angels need Shohei Ohtani more than any other team
I don’t think there is any team in baseball that needs Ohtani more than the Angels.
In 2022, in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, rumors circulated in league circles that Ohtani could be had.
“There was a chance he was traded,” one rival executive said.
It would have landed the Angels a haul that exceeded the package the Washington Nationals received for Juan Soto. “Franchise altering,” the executive said.
The Angels then pulled Ohtani off the market.
In 2023, the Angels made it clear they had no desire to move Ohtani. They wanted to go all-in and win with Ohtani and enhance their chances of re-signing him in the winter. The Angels have since fallen to fourth place in the American League West and are quickly fading out of playoff contention.
If the Angels fail to re-sign Ohtani, they will get a draft pick in return for him when he signs with another team. Not a franchise-altering haul. Not a major-league player or even multiple prospects. A draft pick.
And that would be an organizational failure that would fall squarely on the shoulders of team owner Arte Moreno.
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