Shohei Ohtani reveals that LA Angels are behind schedule in his extension talks

Shohei Ohtani revealed to Sam Blum of The Athletic that he and the LA Angels had no extension discussions before the MLB lockout.

This comes as a little bit of a surprise, as the Angels weren't as active in free agency as the offseason went on before the lockout happened. It appeared that maybe they had switched some of their focus to an Ohtani extension, but apparently that is not the case.

It begs the question of what exactly it was that they were doing after signing Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Loup. Those two signings were massive, but the hot stove seemed to cool down after that for the Halos.

If the LA Angels don't continue improving the roster after the MLB lockout, they need to extend Shohei Ohtani.

I have no problem with the LA Angels not extending Shohei Ohtani this offseason if they spend their energy building a better roster after this lockout ends. The lockout may stretch for much longer, so they might not get as long of an offseason to both improve the roster significantly AND extend 2021's best player. If they don't go out and bring in another major starting pitching name and multiple productive bullpen guys, then I expect them to have stayed productive by at least extending Ohtani.

If they haven't extended the 2021 unanimous AL MVP, AND not improved the roster so that the team can win now with both Ohtani and Trout in their primes, then it absolutely needs to be considered a failure of an offseason. Ohtani made it very clear that he wants to win above anything else, so if we don't extend him and then roll into the season with a roster that doesn't at LEAST make the postseason, we could be in trouble.

This is why the franchise needs to find a way for Ohtani to commit to the Angels long-term now. If not, they need to promise to him that he'll get what he wants more than anything; a supporting cast that's ready to win right now.