Angels owner reveals why team did not re-sign Shohei Ohtani

Jun 15, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) walks to the dugout before the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers nearly a year ago, and it already seems as if he has been with the team for his whole career. But Ohtani spent his first six years in MLB with the Angels, and they actually had a good chance to re-sign him if they didn’t completely fumble.

Before Ohtani chose to sign with the Dodgers in free agency, he was said to have been considering three others teams: the San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and the Angels.

The Angels were the incumbents, and Ohtani was said to have enjoyed playing in Anaheim. The Angels were also the only team that didn’t match the Dodgers’ $700 million offer for Ohtani (most of the money is deferred).

So where did things go wrong?

On Thursday, MLB.com published an article from Angels reporter Rhett Bollinger, who spoke with Angels owner Arte Moreno.

Moreno indicated to Bollinger that the Angels didn’t match the contract offer for Ohtani because they already had too many big financial commitments on their books.

The Angels owe Mike Trout $37.1 million per season through 2030 and Anthony Rendon $38.5 million per season through 2026.

Let’s get this math straight: the Angels made a big mistake in signing Rendon, and Trout’s contract has been a problem, so they took two problems and decided to use it as an excuse to make a third error and not sign Ohtani.

The Angels’ loss has been the Dodgers’ gain.

While focusing on hitting as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, Ohtani put up an MVP season. The 30-year-old slugged 54 home runs with 130 RBIs, 134 runs scored, a .390 on-base percentage, .646 slugging percentage, and 1.036 OPS. All of those numbers led the league. He also stole 59 bases.

The Angels could have had that production, but Moreno had been burned enough by some bad long-term contracts that he decided to draw a line in the sand when it came to Ohtani.

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