4 Angels free agents who will leave, 1 who might return in 2024

The Los Angeles Angels need change. That much is very clear. The team has gone through eight consecutive losing seasons and nine straight without a playoff berth. The Angels thought they built a team capable of at least making a run at the playoffs for the first time in Shohei Ohtani's tenure, but they collapsed immediately after buying at the deadline and are watching their division rivals battle it out for the AL Pennant.

As if things couldn't get worse, Shohei Ohtani is one of several free agents the Angels have to make decisions on. With Ohtani, it might not even be their decision. They could offer him the most money possible and still watch him walk out of the door.

Ohtani is just one free agent the Angels need to make a decision on. There are more that will leave as the Angels go younger and one that could find his way back.

Shohei Ohtani will leave in free agency

It pains me. It truly does. Why at this point would Ohtani stay if he wants to win? The Angels have proven absolutely nothing to him that they're capable of building a winner and have their GM still around. Surrounding Ohtani is a group of some nice young players, an aging Mike Trout, and a disastrous Anthony Rendon contract. The path for the Angels being good in two or three years is there, but will Ohtani be patient? Will the Angels build it right?

In addition to the winning concerns, how likely is it that the notoriously frugal (in terms of big market owners) Arte Moreno outbids big market giants in Los Angeles or New York. The Dodgers and Mets have not been shy at all when it comes to spending money and seem to be desperate enough to land Shohei. The Dodgers keep getting knocked out early in the postseason and the Mets didn't even get there in 2023.

The chances of Moreno offering the most money AND the Angels convincing Ohtani they can win feel slim at best. Constructing post-Ohtani lineups might be your best bet.