It seems likely that at some point in the next seven to ten days, two-way superstar and two-time unanimous AL MVP Shohei Ohtani will make a free agent decision and pick his next team. He is believed to have visited the Blue Jays' spring training facility Monday. The Cubs are said to be less optimistic now, suggesting the Angels, Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Giants are the four finalists for Ohtani.
Ohtani has made it no secret he wants to win -- "It sucks to lose," he said at the All-Star Game -- and that strongly suggests the Angels have little chance to re-sign him. Not only did the Angels fail to make the playoffs even once during Ohtani's six years with the team, they never even posted a winning record. The Angels have not been to the postseason since 2014.
Despite that, the Angels remain in the mix to re-sign Ohtani this offseason, and at least a few people in the game think there is a real possibility he returns to the Halos.
Only Shohei Ohtani seems to know where he’s going to sign, leaving everyone else to guess. One player agent thinks he’s going back to the Angels, because of money, sure, but also because he is devoted to routine and no organization would offer him more autonomy than the Angels.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 4, 2023
A minority opinion, to be sure, though Ohtani has been proving people wrong his entire career. His ability to be an effective two-way player was doubted, his ability to top his own great seasons was doubted, on and on. Ohtani continually proves his doubters wrong. Who's to say he won't prove everyone who expects him to leave the Angels wrong too?
As unlikely as it may seem, there are reasons for Ohtani to re-sign with the Angels and remain with the team that failed to build a contender around him the last six years. Here are three.
1. Money
Might as well start here, right? Ohtani is more than a baseball player. No player in the sport matches his ability to generate revenue and no team better understands Ohtani's impact on the bottom line than the Angels. Have you watched any of their home games the last few years? Angel Stadium is covered with ads from Japanese companies.
The Angels are willing to spend top of the market dollars. They did it with Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, and to retain Mike Trout. The money is there, and Angels owner Arte Moreno knows Ohtani is an investment as much as a baseball player. There is no "Ohtani would have to take a hometown discount to return" in play here. The Angels can offer Ohtani as much money as any team, and they might even be willing to go the extra mile to avoid losing their cash cow.
2. Familiarity
At some point, money only means so much. Ohtani is already a wealthy man and he's looking at $500-million-plus this offseason. Is there really a quality of life difference between, say, $500 million and $525 million, or $525 million and $550 million? Ohtani will sign a record contract either way, in which case all the other things a team can offer come into play and could decide the bidding.
For the Angels, they can offer Ohtani familiarity. He knows the team, the organization, his teammates, the ballpark, the city, the travel, everything. Ohtani became OHTANI! three years ago when the Angels got out of the way, and allowed him to train and prepare however he wanted. They trusted him to do what he needed to do and he rewarded them. The Angels have treated Ohtani very well. Their roster-building leaves a lot to be desired, but they've treated Ohtani well.
Other teams will also treat Ohtani well, of course, but until you step into a new workplace, you never really know what things will be like. Even with a new manager in Ron Washington, the Angels offer Ohtani familiarity and the most seamless transition possible this offseason (i.e. no transition). There's something to said for staying where you're comfortable, and Ohtani is clearly comfortable in Anaheim.
3. He can play with Trout
On Tuesday, Angels GM Perry Minasian said definitely the team will not trade Trout this offseason. So, that's another point in the Angels' favor: Ohtani can reunite with Trout, this generation's greatest player. The two have played together for six years now and are said to have a great relationship, and they could go down as one of the greatest one-two punches in baseball history alongside Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, Willies Mays and McCovey, so on and so forth.
There is a legacy component to consider here. One-team players and one-team Hall of Famers are increasingly rare, and Ohtani has a chance to pair up with Trout and form one of the great one-team tandems in the history of sports. Not just baseball, all sports. Winning would be sweet. My guess is winning with Trout would be a little sweeter for Ohtani given their shared history.
