MLB rumors: Of course, the Angels completely screwed themselves in Shohei Ohtani negotiations

Shohei Ohtani absolutely earned his right to wave goodbye to the Los Angeles Angels and never look back. Despite playing alongside Mike Trout, and basically being the equivalent of two star players himself, Ohtani has yet to even play a single MLB postseason game because the Angels set him up for absolute failure.

Yet, Ohtani apparently did toy around with the idea of returning to play for the Angels for his next contract. Ohtani entered free agency this offseason and was heavily courted over the summer by a number of teams. Ultimately, he went across town to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a massive contract that is heavily deferred. Its structure will pay Ohtani long after the years he plays for Los Angeles.

Angels had a chance to sign Ohtani for same contract Dodgers got

Ohtani's contract structure is extremely unique and was the topic of MLB rumors discussion about what it will mean for the Dodgers way down the road. For now, though, the minimal amount of money due to Ohtani allows the Dodgers to continue building around him. That structure was not unique to the Dodgers, though, Ohtani offered it to multiple teams.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Ohtani's camp pitched the deferred contract to the Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays, and Angels. The Angels were the only team to balk at it. Granted, the contract's structure does create some pause about how the team may manage in the later years of payouts. It's not a guarantee that it works out well for the Dodgers. For a player like Ohtani, though, it seemed worth it. Three other teams agreed the unique structure was a tenable solution, and the Angels were the only team to not.

Heyman reports that people in the Angels organization think there was a good chance for Ohtani to stay if the team accepted the deal since Ohtani likes the organization.

Instead, the Angels couldn't get out of their own way, and Ohtani is gone.