‘Ohtani is going to save the Angels in crisis.’
When Shohei Ohtani (29) of the Los Angeles Angels plays an active role, such phrases come up in domestic Internet communities. Ohtani, who struggles as a pitcher and hitter, writes a meme out of pity. However, the Angels are a team in crisis that even Ohtani cannot save.온라인카지노
Founded in 1961, the Angels finally won their first World Series championship in 2002, which was thrilling. Even after that, until 2014, he reached the top of the American League (AL) West Division six times and enjoyed his heyday. However, the Angels went down after that. Even with Mike Trout, who was the best hitter in MLB and won the AL MVP three times, he stayed in the 3rd or 4th place every year.
In 2018, after fierce competition, he succeeded in having Ohtani. He captured the heart of Ohtani, who wanted to double-tap. Ohtani became a superstar as expected. However, the Angels are still in the mid-lower ranks. Until last year, they failed to advance to the postseason for eight consecutive years.
Ohtani, who leads the team in home runs, is likely to win the AL MVP award for the first time in two years. AP = Yonhap News
Ohtani is struggling to save his team this season. As a pitcher, he appeared in 17 games and played the role of an ace, recording 7 wins and 4 losses with an earned run average of 3.32. His performance as a hitter is even greater. He hit 31 home runs, leading the MLB in home runs. His batting average is also at 0.300, the highest since his MLB debut.
He wasn’t bad until June. He went on a five-game winning streak on two occasions and was in contention for second place in the district. He seemed capable of at least a wild card fight. However, he slowly started to lose his strength. From the 29th of last month, he suffered 4 consecutive losses, and as soon as he broke the losing streak, he started losing again. The AL Wild Card Race was up to 4 games behind the 3rd place New York Yankees, the final line. To make matters worse, Trout, who suffered a palm injury on the 4th, was diagnosed with 8 weeks.
Ohtani with a bandage on her middle finger nail. AP = Yonhap News
‘Otani of the World’ is also getting tired. Ohtani struggled with a broken fingernail against the Chicago White Sox on the 28th of last month, but was replaced with one out in the 7th inning. On the 5th, after resting one more day than planned, against the San Diego Padres, he gave up two homers in the 6th inning and was beaten. Ohtani, who was replaced after finishing the innings all season, went down the mound in the middle of two innings. Eventually, in the All-Star Game on the 12th, he decided to give up pitching and only hit. There is no home run derby either.
The sluggish performance of the Angels is largely to blame for the owner, Arte Moreno (77). Born into a family of Mexican immigrants, Moreno made a fortune through success in advertising. He bought the Angels from Walt Disney in 2003 and became the first Hispanic owner.
Moreno, a baseball fanatic, spent lavishly. Even though they are based in Anaheim, LA, which is a big market, they did not raise the price of tickets and caught free agent players. In 2019, he even signed a 12-year, $430 million contract with Trout, the largest ever in MLB history.
However, the team barely survived. There were many times when the personal preference of the owner was reflected rather than the general manager, who was a baseball expert. There were many cases of failure by investing in redundant resources without reinforcing essential positions. Both Trout and Ohtani wanted to play baseball in the fall, so they often asked general manager Perry Minassian about recruiting players, but the results did not change.
It is highly likely that this year will be the last time Ohtani will be seen saving the Angels. This is because the owner of Moreno announced his intention to sell the club last year, but withdrew it. Moreno shouted, “There is no trade for Ohtani. I will bear the luxury tax and sign a free agent contract.”
This is because the Angels, who have already secured large free agents such as Trout and Anthony Rendon and are ranked 6th in the team’s annual salary rankings (217.47 million dollars, 284.1 billion won), will find it difficult to spend more money. The size of Ohtani’s contract is expected to be between 500 million and 600 million dollars. More than anything, it’s likely Ohtani wants a team that’s close to winning. Ohtani also led the Japanese national team to victory at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in March, overcoming the risk of injury and performing a two-hit game.