While there has been a ton of speculation regarding the next landing spot for two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, there’s reportedly a belief that he might not be going anywhere this offseason.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, one player agent thinks Ohtani will end up re-signing with the Los Angeles Angels “because of money, sure, but also because he is devoted to routine and no organization would offer him more autonomy.”
In addition to the Angels, the teams that are still pursuing Ohtani are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman also reported that the two-time American League MVP “is believed to already have received multiple bids well north of $500 million, and some speculate he could even wind up as baseball’s first $600 million man.”
While staying with the Angels would allow Ohtani to break the bank without leaving a sense of familiarity, he would be sticking with a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs in each of the last years with a streak of eight straight losing seasons.
After finishing with a 73-89 record in 2023, the Angels parted ways with manager Phil Nevin and replaced him with Ron Washington. Perhaps the new coaching staff will be enough to convince Ohtani that better days are ahead for the franchise.
Baseball fans will be on the edge of their seats until Ohtani makes his final decision.
