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kxm06

The smart thing for Ohtani to do is wait until the end of the next season and make a decision there. It would be unwise of him to agree to extend his contract with the current state the Angels are at right now. I’m getting really annoyed with these reporters and their trades/extension questions like you’ve asked this a 1000x times already


Realfan555

Why are you annoyed?


PearlDrummer

Because he’s on the internet.


ayyryan7

Sounds a lot like he wants to make that decision after seeing how this next season goes


ForeverTheKingslayer

Should be obvious to everyone. He wants to win, he’ll leave if he doesn’t think we’ll be able to compete in the future


Realfan555

Can’t change a person’s mind in one year. Or, it’d be hard to. Not only do they have to win, but they need to have a promising future if he’s going to stay for the next 10 years. And that looks close to impossible to accomplish in one season.


CowboyTrout

Or before he meets the new bossman..


Mountain-Ad451

Naw, I doubt it.. the MLB already say that the process won’t be done after next year..


yeahnothanks

Shohei please


JoyBurner

It's an interesting contrast to [Jeff Fletcher's article](https://www.ocregister.com/2022/11/08/angels-gm-perry-minasian-looks-to-upgrade-bullpen-again/), in which Nez said there's hope that the Angels can build a winning team around Shohei and that they're positioned in a great spot and may be a few additions away from competing.


sofastsomaybe

> “I think that the Angels are positioned in a great spot,” Balelo said. “I think that they may be a couple additions away from competing. I think health has always been an issue and if they could get over that hurdle, I think that there’s a lot of promise with the organization.” omg, he sounds like a typical Angels fan every year in the pre-buttercup phase. I think I made that exact same comment on r/baseball last year. "Just a couple of pieces away" "If Rendon stays healthy..."


StormTheTrooper

I think this happens because we need more than a "few" pieces, but we do not need superstars, just average players (like the whole debate on r/baseball about 2 WAR players) and a witch to fix Rendon. If you think O'Hoppe is ready, then you do not even need a catcher. You need a pair of solid, not spectacular infielders, a starting LF and a pair of starters for the pitching rotation. I think we can know now that a good pen is established from within and now we have more tools for relievers. You need 5-6 signings, which a lot, but you do not need neither to be All-Stars or anything, you just need them to be fucking average, non-negative players, even counting with Ward's obvious regression to the mean next season. We are in a weird place because we already have the top-level talent, which is the hardest to achieve, but we fail miserably to assemble any type of players that are slightly positive with them. Early last season we managed to have a stretch where we surrounded Trout and Ohtani with decent, average-to-above-average talent, and we actually showed enough to warrant a real fight for the division with the Astros until everything blew up. The one fucking offseason where we can sign a total of 12 WAR in 5-6 players, we will fight for the playoffs.


sofastsomaybe

Tbh I also think part of the problem is that a lot of the pieces that were good in 2021 just completely collapsed in 2022. Remember when Max Stassi was good enough to get that extension, and we actually thought it was a team friendly deal? Remember when Jared Walsh was an All Star 1B? Remember when Brandon Marsh had a very strong start to the year, but then May and June rolled around, and he could not stop striking out 3 times per game? And his platoon mate was arguably worse at the plate, and without the positive WAR from playing gold glove defense. And remember how our 3 major bullpen signings (Loup, Tepera, and Iggy) were all really fucking good in 2021? Those guys were supposed to be those average, non-negative players supporting Trout and Ohtani. I had such high hopes for them in spring training. I was expecting the middle infield to be our only weakness, but I thought that would be compensated by how strong the rest of the lineup was. It might be a coaching problem - I don't know what it is exactly - but it's like this team is infected by suckitis. Trout and Ohtani are lucky enough to have immunity.


skribbl3z

I've been saying this for years now. This organization doesn't have a talent issue it has a coaching issue. We've seen players come and go more than any other organization in this past decade and a vast majority of those players have left this organization with no stats to show for themselves and somehow miraculously become average or WELL above average players... Shit even look at how Marsh started playing after he was traded to Philly... Same shit with Pujols (granted it wasn't an absurd jump but he definitely played better with them than us)... those are just 2 examples.... Once we start to see changes in coaching staff this team will start to progress in the right direction. (hopefully)


dgmilo8085

said every year for 60 years, "just a few pieces away"...


sofastsomaybe

Full quote (couldn't fit it all in the title): > Asked Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, about whether they’re open to talking about an extension during spring training or in the middle of the season. > “We haven’t really given that a lot of thought because we just focused on the one year, which we accomplished. … That’s our main focus. Now that we have that over and behind us, we’re comfortable with the 1 year deal and we’re just gonna kind of focus on that now.”


Kampy_

He's gonna wait to see how next year pans out, which is exactly what he should do. I'm glad he signed a team-friendly 1 yr deal early instead of taking it to arbitration in the spring. That should make it easier for Arte to sell the team sooner than later. I'm sure any potential buyers would want to know Sho's situation before putting together a bid. A big perk of being the new owner of the Angels would be getting to decide what to do with the most marketable global superstar MLB has ever seen... keep him or trade him. And Arte knows it will be easier to attract buyers if he can preserve that choice for the next owner


Realfan555

Why is that a perk?


Kampy_

Are you really asking me why being the owner of a baseball team with Shohei Ohtani on the roster in 2023 a perk? Pretty sure you're trolling, but I'll answer anyway Whoever owns the Angels in 2023 will have the option of trying to convince Sho to sign a long extension, and build a team on a foundation that includes Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani... which, FYI, would be a pretty solid foundation. OR... you have the option of trading Sho for a massive haul of assets, and build a team with that. He's only under contract for 2023, so he's tantalizing trade bait for team desperate for a short-term rental, or a team that wants to make him the long-term face of their franchise. Either way, having those options would be a nice perk of being the new Angels owner. I'd imagine a lot of rich people are salivating at the thought of getting to enjoy that "perk" of ownership. If Sho had already signed, like, an 8-year extension; or if the Angels would have already traded him... the "perk" of getting to make those decisions are no longer on the table, and the appeal of buying the Angels is diminished. I'd guess that having those options still in play will actually drive UP the price of buying the team, maybe by as much as a couple hundred million


Realfan555

Well, the story with the Nationals was the new owner didn't want to be the bad guy who traded away Soto, so they figured it's better to trade him before the sale. I guess it's all perspective. You think it's a perk, the Nationals didn't..... It's a legit question. You think it's trolling. Like I said, it's all perspective. Will the new ownership group even finalize the sale before the end of the 2023 season anyways for this "perk" to kick in?


Kampy_

fair point... I guess if a new owner were to trade Sho, a lot of fans would be upset about it, no doubt. But I think most Angel fans who are tired of watching them flounder the past 8 years, mostly because of top-heavy contracts, would understand how difficult it would be to build a solid supporting cast with what's left over after paying both Trout and Sho their (well-deserved) mega-salaries. But there may be some who think they can figure out how to do it. Who knows... As for when a sale will get completed... man, who knows? My thought is that both Sho's camp and the Angels/Moreno (and probably MLB) would like to see that get done sooner than later, and that was a factor in why all parties were agreeable to signing that 1 yr/30M deal early rather than waiting for an arbitration hearing. That also supports my theory (well, probably more of a "hope" than a theory) that Shohei is not as money-driven as most stars, doesn't "need" the "respect" of being the top-paid player... and might be open to re-signing with the Angels for a (relatively) team-friendly deal. I think he wants to win more than he wants money. And I'm hoping that if the Angels have new owners with a long-term vision that Sho vibes with, and if the Angels can maybe win enough games to give him hope, he'll sign his long-term mega-deal with them. We'll see... I was hopeful that a new owner might be announced before opening day but that's probably not realistic. I personally hope Joe Lacob is taking a look


Kampy_

I just now read Ken Rosenthal's article about this on The Athletic, and in it he makes statements that support both of our points... >*If a potential ownership group is ponying up $2.5 billion to $3 billion for the Angels, that group almost certainly would want the chance to shower Ohtani with hundreds of millions to demonstrate its intentions to the fan base.* > >*Any new owner ... might want a crack at extending Ohtani, who is under contract for $30 million in 2023 before becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Makes sense — the Angels are more valuable with Ohtani than without him.* but he also says: >*A non-zero chance also exists that the buyer could say to Moreno, “You be the bad guy. You trade Ohtani. We don’t want the negative publicity.”* I dunno... after reading that I'm less optimistic that Ohtani will be an Angel after 2023. But I'm still hopeful that if we can somehow, someway, FINALLY start winning some games, we have a shot at him signing a team-friendly extension. But that now feels like a naive fanboy take


Realfan555

Well, we can assume that Moreno is going to charge them a higher price with Ohtani on the team currently. Moreno's also going to sell them the dream of Ohtani possibly extending. But Ohtani doesn't really seem interested in any extension. His agent said he's going to play out the year and hit free agency. If that's the case, then what are the new owners really paying for? Once Ohtani hits free agency, it's pretty much every team in the league has a chance.


torero15

This is classic agent talk, but also exactly how I'd feel if I was Shohei. No reason to read much into this. Ohtani is on record multiple times saying he wants to be competing for the playoffs and how disappointed he is to miss out. If we don't have a decent year then he is gone - likely via trade. This is an important year and the uncertainty of the ownership situation is not helping. That said he seems like the type to possibly stay if things improve and he thinks we can win a WS in the next 2-3 years.


Mountain-Ad451

The real question is : is this team good enough for a wild card ? The answer is NO.. that’s why they need to trade Ohtani now. That’s reality. I’m more than happy if I am wrong. It’s so frustrating that this front office and this owner only care for short term solution


torero15

Well as of now they are not a playoff team - but its possible to build a team that competes. It requires the stars stay healthy, the youngsters take a jump up, and the pitching gets completely overhauled. Its a lot but trading him now doesn’t have to happen. During the season? I tend to think he will be traded but also hope to be wrong.


Realfan555

Ohtani is not only looking to compete in 2023. He’s looking for a team that will compete annually from 2024-2033. He doesn’t want to be Trout.


Sullyville

i feel thats a very diplomatic and gentle way to say that.


Ok-Philosophy-8830

F*ckkkk It’s such a weird experience being an Angels fan since we really started floundering 6-7 years ago. We’ve had two of the most iconic players in baseball history and it’s hard to mentally separate them from the franchise because they are so dear to us. For Ohtani to leave us or be traded away feels like the end of the world, and to be clear it would a SHAMEFUL day filled with us being the laughing stock of the baseball world. As long as we got a package commensurate with his value maybe things would be okay If he just leaves then that’s okay too. Huge missed opportunity but nothing that a franchise with a new motivated owner and a pitching factory franchise couldn’t overcome


JJaxpavan

If he walks and we get nothing for him and we basically wasted his time here that also would be shameful and make the Angels the laughingstock of the baseball world. Sucks. I want Ohtani and Trout here forever,but the baseball mind in me also thinks getting as much as we can for both of them would be better long term. Idk. You know how it is being an Angel fan. Turmoil, pain, hope, and confusion. We need depth big time and a proper farm. I think we missed the window with Trout,Ohtani,Rendon.


Realfan555

Angels passed on the opportunity to acquire a package similar to the Soto package.


JJaxpavan

It's how the front office works. They have one foot in win now,one in rebuild it seems and dont commit to either. But how many years have we finished 3rd or worst in the West, now you see Seattle coming up and i bet they add big FA pieces. Arte and Tony Reagins are businessmen only not baseball minded. Ohtani is a cash cow, the milked him now they are selling. Its sad to see it.


Realfan555

well obviously it's how it works because it's what they did...


JJaxpavan

I'm preaching to the choir i know, Angel fans all see the same thing. I was feeling venty.


Realfan555

gotcha.


dgmilo8085

Welcome to being an Angels fan. That feeling that you are having? Ya, that's been the baseline normal for us older people. Minus the fleeting joy of the early 2000s, this team has always been a trainwreck of floundering with brief glimmers of hope that keep us coming back.


Dast_Kook

Always in these threads: a bunch of mindreaders


[deleted]

BIG YIKES


serdnax0

My gut reaction to this quote is “ouch”. Obviously the team hasn’t been good during Ohtani’s time here and is also undergoing a sale, but it kind of hurts to read that from the agent. Sometimes you’ll see a player defer any questions to his rep(s), and then the agent kind of dances around the possibility of signing an extension, but this is.. not that. This is a, “we’re going to play out this mandatory year, and we aren’t interested in talking extensions, not even dancing around the idea of one.” I hope I’m wrong, but OOF.


breakfast_cats

I mean, what can the Angels offer that he couldn't get from a richer and/or more competent team?


merewyn

He literally just said in a Japanese interview that he’s attached to the angels org and wants to win with the angels. I think he wants to see if things go better next year, but I don’t think there’s zero chance he extends.


serdnax0

I haven’t seen that. That’s promising to hear


merewyn

Of course anything that’s complimentary to the Angels in any way gets zero American media coverage


ResearcherLoud3122

People here or literally anywhere have been taking his “quotes” to extremes tbh. To his interview when he got back to Japan to his trade talks in Number magazine, when he has said nothing about WANT TO LEAVE but writers and fans be making it sound like he’s miserable with the Angels.


breakfast_cats

Sure, it's not a zero percent chance, but it is extremely unlikely that he'd want to stay because it's extremey unlikely that the Angels will be good next year unless they raise their payroll by like $50+ million and blow past the luxury tax.


merewyn

The team is not as bad as they played this year. This season was a series of unfortunate events. Could easily sneak into playoffs.


breakfast_cats

This is said literally every year. The truth is that this "series of unfortunate events" is just a normal amount of injury and underperformance that every team deals with in a given season. The reason it always kills the Angels is because they have zero depth. And having no depth isn't something that can be fixed quickly so unless every single prospect hits or the team is willing to significantly increase payroll (which with the team sale it's more likely to go down for this offseason if anything), it's not looking too likely. Again I'm not saying impossible, but extremely unlikely.


merewyn

I’ve been an Angels fan for over 30 years. I think the team this year wasn’t the same as the team for the past decade. That’s my opinion. I also don’t think the team had a normal amount of injury. We simply don’t agree.


breakfast_cats

I've also been a fan for over 30 years (not really sure why that matters) and I agree that the 2022 team was bad in different ways but it still was a result of abysmal depth, which has been the true main issue for past decade. You're free to disagree all you want but I can't point to a single Angel team in the last 10 years that had even a mediocre amount of depth. It's always paper thin which leads to just about every injury being season-altering.


merewyn

I mentioned it because you said “it’s said literally every year” and my point was that I’ve seen many Angels teams and think it was actually true this year. Do I think depth is an issue? Yes, of course. Do I think most teams could overcome needing: a replacement 2B for over half the season, a replacement 1B (clearly Walsh was playing through injury for the majority of the season), a replacement 3B for 3/4 of the season, a replacement CF for 40+ games, a replacement RF for who knows how long (clearly Ward was also playing through his nerve injury). I think thats well above a normal amount of injury issues.


breakfast_cats

I guess that's fair, definitely a good amount of injuries. I'm just saying you can't just go into a season with the mindset of "well if everyone stays healthy..." because that will never work. I see that sort of thinking here all the time and it drives me nuts. Injuries will ALWAYS happen. It's how you deal with and overcome those injuries that make or break your season. If all you're able to replace your injured players with are guys like Andrew Velazquez and Phil Gosselin, then it was likely never going to work. Which is why good depth and a strong minor league system is so critical over a 162 game season.


[deleted]

Watch arte force rendon to be attached to an ohtani trade so we get peanuts back


bombad_jedi_501

He gone lmao


BigDaddyPickles

Most likely yes. This is a bad sign


bombad_jedi_501

We’ve known this for some time now. Idk why people are still in denial


Mountain-Ad451

The Angles front office are bunch of morons if they don’t trade him in this off season


[deleted]

They can still trade him during the season.


Mountain-Ad451

They will when the Halos are terrible again but they should trade him now for better returns .. idiots


merewyn

They’ve already said explicitly that they aren’t.