ESPN Pundits Rip Angels' Front Office Amidst Ohtani's Uncertain Future
The Los Angeles Angels are coming off of a solid series in which they were able to sweep the Boston Red Sox. It has been great to see Mickey Moniak become such a big contributor on this squad immediately, more pitching depth get added to the roster, and LA's superstar duo continue to shine.
We just saw Mike Trout continue to climb the rankings of the all-time home runs list and Shohei Ohtani joined Nolan Ryan as the first Angels' pitcher since 1978 to strike out 80 batters in ten starts. And above all else, the Halos are winning as they currently hold a 28-23 record and the more they climb above .500, the better.
Because at the end of the day, the number one goal for this franchise is proving to Ohtani that they are the team he should commit to long-term once this season is over and the popular belief is that a playoff appearance will be able to do just that.
The 28-year-old superstar has not been to the playoffs once in his career since he joined LA back in 2018. His teammate Mike Trout has only been there once back in 2014 and even though they are known as one of the most dynamic duo's in baseball, they have never been taken seriously as contenders.
So will this new roster along with a trip into the postseason be enough to persuade Ohtani to remain in Anaheim for the majority, if not all of his time in the MLB? ESPN's Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon do not think this will be the case.
In fact, they were not even very impressed by their recent sweep against the Red Sox.
"If you feel that you have to make the playoffs in order to keep Shohei Ohtani," said Kornheiser. "Then what doe this mean? It doesn't mean anything at the moment. It still looms out there, the trade deadline, where the Angels could say 'We're going to trade him because he's going to go to free agency and we're going to get nothing."
(Via ESPN)
"The front office must be feeling delusional right now," said Wilbon. "Because the Angels don't make the playoffs, it's been a long time since they've made it. why would you think the Angels are going to make the postseason? And they've got to make their decision before then anyway."
(Via ESPN)
As always, the Angels will have to defy the odds of most in this situation.
