How well of a fit are the LA Angels for Ohtani?

Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani has added the LA Angels to his quickly dwindling list of desired landing spots. Although he states his desire to play for the Halos, one has to ask. Are the Angels really a top landing spot for Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani wants to be an Angel, that is a fact. Sure he has six other teams on his short-list, but do they stack up as well as the Angels? Out of the Cubs, Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, Mariners, Giants and Angels I only see one true fit for his desires.

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This isn’t bias, trust me. But that team is the Los Angeles Angels.

Why am I so confident the Angels are the perfect match?

For starters, Ohtani has stated his desire to create his own legacy in many forms. For one, the team he goes to needs to have a clean slate in terms of Japanese superstar history. The last time the Angels had a major Japan superstar was the one year free agent signing of Hideki Matsui in 2009. He was past his prime then and the move has been forgettable, though Matsui did put up a strong year with the Angels following the Morales tragedy.

The Rangers did bring Yu Darvish over from Japan in 2012, though his tenure in Arlington wasn’t anything legacy-bounding. It could be a 50/50 on this specific regard for the Rangers, but given the short, non-historic time Darvish spent with the Rangers I doubt that would take them out of the running.

Now we have a more important demand to be met, limited post-season history. The Cubs recently started a new chapter in organization history after their 2016 World Series Championship and look to compete for more. Ohtani might get lost in all the buzz of the organizational history being made and have his legacy come second fiddle to the Cubs. This scenario rings true with the Giants as well.

Now we have the Dodgers, an absolutely storied team when it comes to the playoffs, although their recent tenure in the last decade has been incredible disappointing. They haven’t won a World Series since 1988 and their 2017 appearance was beyond disappointing. You might think the Dodgers would still hold an edge over the Angels until you examine the treatment of Yu Darvish in after the 2017 World Series.

Ohtani doesn’t want to fill the shoes of others and jumping into the Dodgers would be that exact scenario. He’d have to fill the thinly laced shoes of Darvish and then some. I doubt that would be ideal for Ohtani.

Imagine that, Ohtani and Trout leading the Angels to a storied postseason run in 2018. That’s a legacy right there, it won’t be all Trout because it’s been that way for most of this decade to no avail. That could essentially be one of the greatest duos in baseball history; Ohtani wouldn’t be a side-note to Trout’s post-season legacy, the duo would be one in the same.

The Angels have the legacy, post-season history, and location pitches down. Unfortunately so do the Rangers. Yet the Rangers suffer from a negative post-season history that Ohtani would have to drag them out of. I’m not saying he couldn’t, nor am I saying that it wouldn’t be legacy defining material, but it just isn’t an optimal situation to walk into.

Next: Halos and Andrew Cashner Could be a Nice Duo in 2018

Realistically, this battle will come down to the Angels, Dodgers and Rangers. Regardless of where Ohtani goes it will be a fun week, especially since the city of New York has already gotten the party started.