Angels News: MLB Insider Says Halos Out of Shohei Ohtani Race, Dodgers are Favorite
I'm running out of intro paragraphs to talk about Shohei Ohtani's impending free agency. It's not often that the biggest story of an offseason is something that will happen next winter, but that's just how transcendent Ohtani is as a talent.
He's going to command a contract upwards of $500 million, he's going to be the highest paid player in MLB history and, unfortunately for Angels fans, one MLB insider doesn't think it's going to be with their team.
In a recent article, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that everyone around baseball "assumes [Ohtani is] gone from the Angels." Interestingly, he said a big reason is because Arte Moreno decided to not sell the team.
"Of course, everyone assumes he’s gone from the Angels. Their best hope was if owner Arte Moreno sold to Warriors owner and interested party Joe Lacob, who has run his NBA payroll into Cohen territory and also shown a willingness to pay hundreds of millions in tax. But the Dodgers loom as the other biggest threat."
This report comes after Heyman's report that Ohtani is "far less likely" to remain in Anaheim now that Moreno is staying. So clearly, his sources are telling him Ohtani is gone. And moreover, if Ohtani does leave, Heyman, like many other insiders, thinks he's likely to end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although Heyman has also pegged the New York Mets as a potential landing spot — because, you know, East Coast bias.
Either way, Heyman has shared nothing but bad news for Angels fans. They can hope his sources are wrong (remember Arson Judge?), but for now, he's painted a pretty grim picture.
