When requested about commerce hypothesis on Thursday evening, Los Angeles Angels famous person Shohei Ohtani mentioned “Proper now, I’m an Angel,” in accordance with a report in The Athletic.
Ohtani was chatting with the media after Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Texas Rangers in Anaheim. Ohtani took the loss however struck out 11 Rangers within the course of. However he additionally gave up eight hits.
Earlier within the day the New York Put up reported that the Angels are not less than “listening” to affords for Ohtani, however aren’t actively buying him.
“I’m with the Angels proper now,” Ohtani mentioned. “And I’m very grateful for what they’ve executed. I actually love the workforce. I like my teammates. Proper now I’m an Angel, and that’s all I can actually deal with at this level.”
Los Angeles is going through a essential juncture of Ohtani’s profession. He’s within the second yr of a two-year contract that paid him $8.5 million. He can go to arbitration with the Angels this offseason, however he’ll be a free agent after the 2023 season. The Angels face the prospect of shedding Ohtani down the road in the event that they’re not capable of get a long-term deal in place.
Complicating issues is that Mike Trout has a 12-year, $426 million contract that he signed in 2019. Trout simply introduced that he has a spinal situation known as costovertebral dysfunction at T5, which is a situation that he’ll should take care of the remainder of his profession. It’s not clear how a lot the situation will restrict him as a participant.
In Might, the Angels have been thought-about AL West contenders. However now they’re extra video games below .500 than the Rangers, have fired their supervisor, Joe Maddon, and try to find out if Ohtani is part of their future, and in that case, for the way lengthy?
The Angels host the Rangers by Sunday.
You’ll find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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