3 reasons why the LA Angels must give Shohei Ohtani a blank check in free agency

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The Los Angeles Angels have a massive offseason ahead of them. The team just wrapped up its eighth consecutive losing season in spectacular fashion, going all in at the trade deadline only to immediately collapse.

The Angels made the effort to try and win in 2023 not because they had the best odds, but because this was their last guaranteed year with Shohei Ohtani under team control. Ohtani is officially a free agent with the 2023 season wrapped up, and could walk away for nothing more than a measly draft pick.

Chances are, Ohtani is going to walk away. The Angels haven't come close to fielding a competitive team with him around, and have given him no reason to believe that will change. The Ron Washington hire shouldn't hurt, but presumably won't push them over the top. One way for the Angels to potentially convince Ohtani to stay is by outbidding the field. As irresponsible as that might seem considering how massive the contract Ohtani is about to get will be, there are reasons to believe they should just give Shohei the check to write his own amount.

1) The LA Angels cannot let Shohei Ohtani walk for nothing

As time has passed, it's become abundantly clear that the Angels should have traded Shohei Ohtani. They had many chances to do so but could not pull the trigger. They could've moved him at the 2022 trade deadline for a haul larger than the one Washington got for Juan Soto. They could've moved him in the 2022 offseason for a massive haul but refused to do so. They then could've moved him at the 2023 deadline while still getting a ton in return but opted to go for it instead.

Holding onto Shohei gave the Angels some great regular season memories, but the team still wasn't close to winning. Had they moved Ohtani they could've entered a rebuild.

Time has expired for the Angels to do this. They now have to either bring back Ohtani or lose him for just a supplemental draft pick. Losing him for a pick would be nothing short of catastrophic for a team lacking with both their major league roster and minor league prospects.

If Ohtani leaves because he likes the situation another team would provide him, there's nothing the Angels can do about that. If he leaves because another team outbids them, that's something they can control.

2) Without Shohei Ohtani, the chances of Arte Moreno selling the LA Angels anytime soon likely lowers

What virtually every Angels fan wants is for Arte Moreno to sell the team. He's run the franchise to the ground and there doesn't seem to be a way up. Angels fans were planning parades thinking Moreno was going to sell the team until he randomly decided to pull them off the market entirely.

One reason Moreno presumably was going to sell the team was because of what he could've gotten on the market for it. The Angels have seen their value increase, and Shohei Ohtani has played a huge role in that. Ohtani's popularity all around the world and his ability to attract fans to watch Angels games either from Angel Stadium or the comfort of their own homes has absolutely help increase the value of this franchise. The second he's gone, that value he brings leaves too.

The Angels do have selling features that would keep the value of the franchise relatively high even if Ohtani leaves like Mike Trout and playing in a big market. That's all great, but Ohtani brings so much to the table that the value would presumably lessen a bit if he left. If Arte wasn't willing to sell before, why would he when the value is lower?

If Ohtani stays, Angels fans can have a glimmer of hope that Arte will actually sell. One reason is because he won't want to spend the money Ohtani is making anyway. Another could be another boost in franchise value. Ohtani locked in for what would likely be a decade if not longer would be more valuable than Ohtani on expiring money like he was last offseason when Arte was looking to sell.

3) If the LA Angels couldn't put together a winning season with him, how exactly do they plan on doing so without him?

Ohtani has spent six seasons with the Angels so far, and the team has put together a grand total of zero winning seasons. They've come close, winning as many as 80 games, but the team hasn't even finished .500. That's the case despite Ohtani playing the best baseball we've ever seen in the last three seasons.

Shohei is going to win his second MVP award in the last three years, and the only year in which he didn't win it he was the runner-up to the guy who broke the AL home run record. Ohtani has been one of the best hitters and pitchers in baseball over the last three seasons. How exactly do you get better after losing that guy?

The short answer is, you probably don't. There's a decent chance the Angels win more games in 2024 than they did in 2023 if they get more injury luck, but 74 wins isn't a hard number to reach. The Angels aren't a postseason team even with Ohtani, they're a bottom-five team in the American League easily if he leaves.

The Angels could look to just sign a hitter and a pitcher in free agency, but let's say they wind up with a duo of Cody Bellinger and Aaron Nola. They're not matching Ohtani's production. There isn't a combination of players the Angels can bring in that would match what Ohtani is capable of. That's what makes him so special.

Ohtani had 10.0 bWAR in 2023, and that was with him missing a full month of the season due to injury. Obviously, the fact that he can't pitch in 2024 will hurt, but he'll be able to in 2025 while being the same MVP-caliber hitter. As long as he's here, the Angels have a chance to win sometime in the not-too-distant future. If he leaves, it only becomes that much harder because they get nothing in return.

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