Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Not Happy with LA's Losing Season in 2022
Upon arriving in Japan, Shohei Ohtani was stopped for an interview in Tokyo's Haneda Airport. He was asked how he thought the Angels 2022 season went.
"A good season for me personally," Ohtani said.
He couldn't say the same about the Angels' seventh consecutive losing season (and fifth since he arrived in 2018).
"I have to say that August and September in particular felt longer to me than last year," Ohtani said in Japanese. "We were not able to play as many good games as we would like — including 14 consecutive losses. So I have a rather negative impression of this season."
Entering an offseason of uncertainty, this is the last thing Angels fans wanted to hear.
The Angels were eliminated from playoff contention in the middle of September, leading to pretty meaningless baseball for the last month of the season. Ohtani didn't seem to mind when he was playing, but I'm sure watching his peers compete in the postseason hasn't helped.
Ohtani and the Angels have already agreed to a record one-year deal to avoid arbitration for the 2023 season, but after that, the Angels have no control over their two-way superstar.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian has made it clear he wants to re-sign Ohtani for the foreseeable future, but, unlike his star counterpart Mike Trout, Ohtani seems to be concerned with winning.
The Angels were able to lock up Trout through 2030 despite not putting a winning product on the field, but it may not be as easy with Ohtani.
Coming off a dominant season in which he's already been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards in the game (and has a lot more nominations on the way), Ohtani knows just about any team will pay him just about any amount for his services.
At the end of the 2023 season, there will be an all-out bidding war for baseball's most unique player. And while Angel fans would love to have Ohtani in Anaheim for the remainder of his career, their management may be running out of time to make that happen.
This offseason will be crucial for Minasian to put together a winning product if he wants any chance at keeping Ohtani. Another losing season could almost certainly spell the end of Ohtani's Angel career. So this offseason may turn out to be the most important few months of Minasian's tenure with the Angels.
Oh, did I mention the Angels will probably have a new owner within the next few months?
