The Angels Have To Move Shohei Ohtani

 


When Shohei Ohtani selected the Los Angeles Angels offer, it was like the baseball gods had finally smiled on the team.

They finally won a championship in 2002 and they lucked into drafting the great Mike Trout in 2009, but signing Ohtani was a genuine gift.

When he took off as a player last year they believed that he and Trout would form a nucleus that would send the Angels to the promised land. This season started out promisingly enough.

But then there was a 14 game losing streak that cost manager Joe Maddon his job. Maddon was a coach for the Angels when they won the World Series. He was the manager of the Chicago Cubs when they ended a 108 year drought and became champions.

The Angels went into a tailspin that they have shown no signs of coming out of. They were just swept by their cross-town rivals, the Dodgers. But to call it a rivalry is a misnomer. The Dodgers rudely treat the Angels like underlings. The Dodgers don’t know the rivalry exists.

The time has come to face facts.

Shohei Ohtani can be the Angels’ savior. He can be the one that pulls the club and its fans out of the doldrums.

Perry Minasian, the general manager of the Angels, is facing his career defining test. He’s going to have to trade Ohtani now while the Ohtani’s contract is manageable and get a haul of prospects to fill the team’s farm system.

Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals is now on the market and he will exact a premium. Mike Rizzo of the Nationals is a shrewd bargainer. Minasian has his work cut out for him to get the better package of players.

Shohei Ohtani is a one in a billion talent. Angels owner Arte Moreno won’t pay him what he’s worth. The time is now to make the only move that will help the team.

They have to trade Shohei Ohtani now.


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