This season is going up in flames.
At this point we need to ask Shohei one more time, if he’s willing to discuss an extension.
If he’s not, we need to explain that we will do our best to re-sign him in the off-season, but we will now be seaking the best trade package we can get, to help the organization moving forward.
If we don’t do this, we risk letting him walk away without any significant compensation, which could potentially cost us more years of trying to compete while we build our young core.
The key to winning in baseball is young controllable pitching, and there’s only two ways to get it: Develop it from your farm system or trade for it.
For the record, it has been an incredible experience watching Shohei do things that only children would dare to dream about. There will be people reading this post that will not be happy, and that’s understandable. But in the end, winning is the only thing that can ease our pain as fans, and I’ll be an Angels fan long after Ohtani is retired.
We also have to do right by Trout and keep a competitive team on the field, since he decided he wants to be here.
Keep in mind, we can still attempt to sign Ohtani when he hits free agency, so this doesn’t have to be goodbye forever.
However, I do want to say one thing to Arte about re-signing him:
Arte, we would all love to have Shohei back for the foreseeable future, but if you’re not willing to cross the luxury tax threshold, please make sure signing him to a 10-12 year deal does not cripple the franchise. That would be a lot of money tied up between him and Trout for long durations, and simply having them and not winning, is not an acceptable option. Please remember you’re the owner, responsible for keeping the franchise heading in the right direction. We can’t have you acting like a fan and making decisions that are detrimental to the team, long-term. Also, please don’t be concerned with what people might think of you if you trade him. You’re allegiance is to the Angels’ fans, and your responsibility is to keep the team competitive. If he doesn’t want to discuss an extension, we have to make sure we get some sort of compensation to help us moving forward. If fans don’t understand that, it’s only due to ignorance.
