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Liberty phoenix john lee bottom1/18/2024 Coupled with their six-game postseason losing streak, that's going to create quite a bit of frustration up north. For chunks of Friday afternoon, Jays fans genuinely believed Ohtani to Toronto was a done deal, or close to it (they should commiserate with Giants fans who thought they were getting Judge last winter). The Jays were likely unwilling to match such an enormous dollar figure, such is life.īut by little fault of their own, the Blue Jays organization now faces an extremely riled up and disappointed fan base. On Friday, reports broke from various outlets that Ohtani was on his way to Toronto, but that was not the case. The Jays were hot and heavy on Ohtani, reportedly meeting with him at their spring-training complex in Florida during the winter meetings. After six years in the spotlight, the Angels without Ohtani, are once again completely irrelevant. and Michael Wacha would be savvy fits - cannot save them. A slew of shrewd free agents additions alone - Yuli Gurrel Jr. The farm system is in the league's bottom five. Nobody who started a game on the mound last year had a FIP over 4.00 and now Ohtani is gone. Angels ranked in the bottom half in Wins Above Average at every single position in 2023 except for center field. Logan O'Hoppe looks like a franchise catcher, the multi-positional Brandon Drury was also a solid bat and rookies Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel showed glimpses.īut the sum is more mediocre than impactful. And despite a disastrous August that dive-bombed them out of contention, the Angels did have a handful of bright spots. They do have some dough to spend, with the payroll sans-Ohtani $58 million below the 2023 number. When healthy, Trout remains a force, but the thick-necked New Jerseyan turned 32 in August, which means his best days are in the rear-view mirror.Īll indications are that GM Perry Minasian, whose contract expires at the end of 2024, will still try to craft a contending roster. Yes, the Angels still have Trout, but the three-time MVP is coming off another injury-plagued season in which he played only 82 games. They're the only team that actually has to replace Ohtani, a particularly difficult task when you remember that he pitches like a Cy Young candidate and hits like an MVP. 500.Īnd unlike the Dodgers, who have a formidable roster without Ohtani, the Angels have no clear path forward. A series of unfortunate events - some in their control, some not - means Shohei will finish his six-year run in Orange County without a single season above. And with that stroke of fortune they accomplished nothing. They won the Ohtani sweepstakes the first time around, and it hardly cost them a dime. Winter doesn't even officially start for another two weeks, there is ample time to recover, recuperate and revamp, if you're willing to spend. Life, and baseball, moves forward and waits for no one. And those disappointed clubs, the Angels, Cubs, Giants and Blue Jays, all of whom were reportedly finalists on Ohtani, must wake up on Saturday morning and endure. Still, for the clubs who were seriously in the mix until the end, Friday was a day of disappointment. Even the presence of another perennial MVP candidate didn't do that. Losing out Ohtani is far from a death sentence the Angels just spent six seasons showing how a 10-WAR player doesn't guarantee you a playoff spot. It's like the scene in a superhero movie when the bad guy, already a menacing force, further evolves into a level of incomprehensible strength.īut what does it mean for the losers for those who had their hearts and strategies set on landing the two-way behemoth? There are surely Google Docs titled "plan B" that must now, unfortunately for those involved, be opened and shared. The $700 million contract will completely reshape the entire sport, with the Dodgers immediately becoming the most relevant franchise in Major League Baseball. Shohei Ohtani, the most impactful, most revolutionary baseball player in the history of the sport, is officially a Los Angeles Dodger.
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