(News4usonline) – Following the news that Shohei Ohtani will not pitch again this year, the Los Angeles Angels seem to have thrown in the towel on making the postseason. Los Angeles placed five players on waivers and shifted their focus to letting their younger talent gain some experience.
The Angels made it official on Sept. 16 with an announcement stating that Ohtani would miss the rest of the season, ending a storybook season for the MLB superstar.
The Angels now sit 15.5 games back of the last Wild Card spot with only a few games left on their schedule. The 2023 campaign has once again fallen short of expectations making it time for the coaches to teach and develop.
“It is a learning process for a lot of these guys, and I gotta put them in situations. That’s what we have. I gotta put them in situations that are tough, and I wanna see,” manager Phil Nevin said following a loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
Ohtani’s upcoming free agency looms over the franchise after the front office faced one of the most challenging trade deadline decisions in recent memory. The Angels decided to give it one last-ditch effort to sway the MVP into staying with the franchise.
The team opted to be buyers rather than sellers despite being in fourth place in their division at the break.
“I understand you might as well go for it. You are trying to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 in perhaps your last chance with both Ohtani and Trout. You are trying to make an impression on Ohtani with the hope of possibly resigning him. If you trade him, you are cutting the cord,” said MLB insider Ken Rosenthal.
The Angels traded away seven prospects to bolster their roster instead of parting with Ohtani. To make matters worse, three of the five players they acquired at the deadline were part of the waiver moves made early last week.
Los Angeles never got healthy enough to compete. Mike Trout has not returned from a wrist injury, and Anthony Rendon suffered another injury-riddled year having yet to play more than 60 games in a season for the Halos. The roster currently has 15 players on the Injured List.
They missed the opportunity to cash in on several highly touted prospects if they moved on from Ohtani at the deadline. Rolling the dice has proven to be a move of desperation that will not pay off for the organization.
There is no doubt the Angels will at least make a push to retain the two-way superstar. Now that he might face a second Tommy John surgery, Ohtani’s price tag may be slightly lower.
Wherever he ends up, he wants to win, something the Angels would need to improve on.
“There’s not a question in his mind that he’s going to come back, and he’s going to continue to do both like we have the last few years,” said agent Nez Balelo regarding Ohtani’s UCL injury.
No one knows what will happen this coming offseason. Still, at the very least, the Angels do not have to live with the guilt of being the franchise to trade away one of the most generationally talented players baseball has ever seen.
Crazier things have happened, and if they had moved on in favor of prospects, any hope of keeping Trout and Ohtani together would be lost.
Benjamin Verbrugge is a reporter for News4usonline who studied journalism at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sports have brought me much joy throughout my life, and I want to give a little back to something that has meant so much to me.” Email Benjamin at benverbrugge8@gmail.com.
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