Arte Moreno isn’t promoting the Los Angeles Angels, in spite of everything. 5 months after asserting that he’d be wanting for consumers — and throwing the Shohei Ohtani rumor mill into overdrive — the AL West membership’s proprietor announced on Monday that he’s retaining his stake and never going anyplace for the time being.
It naturally casts a brand new dimension of questions into the prospect of Ohtani’s future and one which the Mets is likely to be retaining a selected eye on.
The 28-year-old ace and slugging unicorn is a free agent after the 2023 season during which he signed a one-year, $30 million pact with Moreno, who reportedly supposed the Angels’ subsequent proprietor to then deal with Ohtani’s future (h/t Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Occasions).
Moreno actually has a observe document of doling out huge contracts in an try to higher his group, signing famous person heart fielder Mike Trout to an MLB-record $426.5 million deal in 2019. Ohtani’s new deal could doubtlessly surpass that with a mean annual worth of as a lot as $50 million.
The difficulty with Moreno and the Angels, although, is that every one that cash has not translated to success. They haven’t gained a playoff sport since 2009 and haven’t touched postseason grass since 2014.
Evidently Ohtani desires to win greater than something as he voiced his displeasure with how issues completed final season for an Angels group that went 73-89 (h/t Koji Ueda, Related Press).
“Talking to Shohei and playing with him the past couple years, there’s nothing more he wants to do than win,” Trout instructed Chris Russo on MLB Community’s ‘High Heat’ on Monday. “He hates losing, he hates going home early… We have to put a big year together and hopefully keep him here.”
Given Moreno’s lack of ability to construct a winner, although, one other down season in Los Angeles would seemingly mean Ohtani bolts for greener pastures — and that’s the place the Mets could doubtlessly are available in.
Mets GM Billy Eppler was the person who signed Ohtani to his take care of the Angels, permitting him to make the leap from Japan to america. He even reportedly checked in on Ohtani’s availability with the Angels final season.
There’s no query that the Mets could supply the sort of cash that Ohtani could be wanting for and coming off a 101-win season in 2022. In any case, proprietor Steve Cohen spent half a billion {dollars} in just some weeks between November and December.
Even after dropping out on Carlos Correa, in addition they seem to have the next aggressive ceiling than the Angels — and Ohtani could be that final large bat that Cohen hoped for to place the Mets excessive.