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The Los Angeles Angels signed Shohei Ohtani after the 2017 season and understandably, it received much fanfare from both Asia and North America. Fast forward three years later and things aren't looking the way all parties have hoped for.
Ohtani was a conversational buzz topic for years, arguably since he was in high school at Hanamaki Higashi. From the two-way player talk and Babe Ruth comparisons to being the first player to go to North America straight out of high school, the possibilities were endless.
Eventually, the Fighters stepped in and drafted Ohtani with no fear and successfully recruited to sign with the team. It's fun to think how much of a risk it was when they already failed to convince Tomoyuki Sugano to sign the year before, but that's another story.
After winning a Japan Series championship with the Fighters, speculation on Ohtani's choice of MLB team after his posting remained interesting. Money didn't matter as an amateur signing, teams would need to be creative with their offers and recruiting pitches to have him join.
The Angels were the big winners when then-GM Billy Eppler admitted some shock. We'll never truly the reason behind this, though the easiest speculation is being paired with an MVP in Mike Trout combined with not being in the shadow of another Japanese-born player.
However, when Ohtani initially signed with the Angels, then-manager Mike Scioscia originally spoke about how the team needed pitching, a big flaw after the 2017 season. There were doubts if he would be stubborn with decisions on playing Ohtani at both positions, but he gave his word as a nod to the organization adding him.
Unfortunately, despite winning the 2018 American League rookie of the year and having a productive 2019, Scioscia's emphasis on pitching needed was validated with how poor they've been in the Trout era. None of these offensive numbers Ohtani, Trout, David Fletcher and others put up won't mean anything if the Angels can't hold a lead.
Since signing Ohtani, the Angels have been dependent on trades or finding pitchers from within when it comes to the rotation or bullpen. Otherwise, their free agents have been forgettable short term signings which have all ended in failure or roster filler.
Excluding insignificant minor league deals. here are the notable pitchers who signed in free agency after December 2017:
Junichi Tazawa (Middle of 2018, Minor League)
Matt Harvey (One year, 2019 season, $11 million)
Trevor Cahill (One year, 2019 season, $9 million)
Cody Allen (One year, 2019 season, $8.5 million)
Julio Teheran (One year, 2020 season, $9 million)
None of these signings worked out and all were either demoted, or saw a forgettable stint with the Angels. On the other hand, they've been depending waiver pickups and finding a lottery ticket with minor signings from Felix Pena and Mike Mayers.
Their most significant signings in regards to position players were Jason Castro and Anthony Rendon after the 2019 season. While Rendon was a highly prized free agent, it was in reality a consolation after losing to the Yankees in the bidding war for Gerrit Cole.
Billy Eppler was fired at the end of the 2020 season for coming up short of an expanded postseason year and the Angels had a total of three different manager in three seasons from 2018-2020 with Scioscia, Brad Ausmus and Joe Maddon all being skippers.
Perry Minasian was hired earlier this month from the Atlanta Braves organization thinking they're not far off. They had a stronger second half if anyone wants to think the glass is half full. Will the pitching improve or go at status quo?
Dylan Bundy, a former first round bust of the Baltimore Orioles had a surprise 2020. Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning are both players who did well in the last month with the latter bring homegrown. Then there's Cam Bedrosian who was good when healthy, but it's possible this is all a mirage without a true ace or top line pitcher.
Their 2020 season was also hurt by the three-batter minimum rule that relievers were forced to adjust to. Maddon was known to micromanage his decisions in the bullpen, but that could no longer be the case.
There's no question the Angels would want to sign Trevor Bauer, who is the highest touted free agent on the market. Their payroll for 2021 is already locked up a combined $118 million to Justin Upton, Albert Pujols, Trout and Rendon. Pujols is in the final year of his backloaded albatross contract signed back in 2012. They're remained top heavy on offense and it's still one-dimensional for a team trying to win sooner than later.
The common narrative of the Angels is thought to be Arte Moreno controlling the baseball operations over his general manager, whether it was Eppler or Jetty Dipoto in the past. Infamously, Moreno forced a trade for Vernon Wells many years ago. There is no chance Moreno will sell the team after purchasing land from Orange County. Time will tell if Minasian will be given the reins to run the Angels.
Going back to Ohtani, who turns 27 in 2021, he had a forgettable 2020. While some of the blame can go to the pandemic, he failed to record an out in his first start and hit below the Mendoza Line in 44 games as a batter.
Call it an outlier year as he's aware of the struggles, but his ceiling could soon cave in as time goes on. He's another injury away from a decision needing to be made on choosing a position in baseball. Durability for a full year was a question mark coming into MLB as he even had injuries with the Fighters under his two-way schedule.
The Angels are committed in the short term to have Ohtani remain a two-way player, but will be shut down again on the mound like 2020 if things go wrong?
Even if things are put together, it's possible the Angels failing to have team success puts Ohtani in a boat with Trout and even Felix Hernandez on playing without a meaningful game. The Angels have only made the postseason once in the Trout era back in 2014 when they won the division, but were swept by the Kansas City Royals. Like Hernandez, Ohtani has yet to see baseball that matters as the Angels have dug themselves a hole in the regular season to not make the playoffs.
In NCAA football, the Heisman award is given to the greatest player of the season, symbolizing someone carrying their team to greatness. No one can win this award unless there is team success as a whole, which puts them on the national radar.
There's no issues of Ohtani finding news and attention in Japan, but in the west, he could be remembered as just a speck of Angels history by being forgotten everywhere outside of the AL West. If Trout wasn't playing for the Angels, they would have zero headlines nationally and he has been the reason they're mediocre instead of a bottom feeder within the division.
As aforementioned, Ohtani was given an opportunity to write his own story when choosing the Angels. His story playing with the baseball team of Orange County needs to improve as a whole, or else his career won't amount to anything outside of some individual accomplishments. Especially when the Los Dodgers own the Southern California market coming off a World Series win.
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