The worst case scenario just occurred for the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani, fans of the team and owner Arte Moreno in 2023.
After the Angels completed a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, Ohtani left the first game early after initially feeling "arm fatigue". The news later reported that his UCL was torn, ending his pitching season for 2023. To make matters worse, Mike Trout also returned to the injured list after coming back from his own injury.
It was already a damaging season for fans of the Angels who've been there long before 2018 or even 2002 when Moreno announced he had "unfinished business" and decided to go against his initial decision to sell the team.
Most fans who care about winning already turned off and felt the pain before even playing a game.
It's been documented how Moreno is one of the most hands-on owners in MLB, controlling baseball operations. This includes signing Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Josh Hamilton and even trading for Vernon Wells to name a few expensive mistakes.
Those were all choices Moreno made, not his general manager. If only Ohtani was aware of this idea of the owner having dictator powers when he signed with the team six years ago.
Historically, Moreno has only triggered the luxury tax twice in his tenure as owner with this trade deadline being his most recent.
All those albatross contracts of the past, including the final years of Pujols, came back to bite the early years of Ohtani.
As the article by Alden Gonzalez showed, Moreno wasn't willing to give up on Ohtani or send him packing because he's seen as a cash cow. His presence alone sells tickets, merchandise and likely media rights with the Japanese who come to see him.
At the deadline, Moreno didn't allow his General Manager Perry Minasian to sell and he was likely ordered to go for it all in 2023.
Their low-tier farm system was gutted even further when they added Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, C.J. Cron and Reynaldo Lopez before the trade deadline passed.
A false hope winning streak against weak opponents in the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates and a struggling New York Yankees team had them buying in thinking they could make a run at a playoff spot since they had a winning record.
Since August 1 and through August 23, the Angels are 5-16 in the month and started it with a seven game losing streak. As of the morning of August 24, they're 11.5 games behind the closest playoff team in the Seattle Mariners, who swept them in a four game series in Anaheim.
It's a complete waste of time for Ohtani, who has already won an MVP award, but never finished with a team winning record.
Ohtani has accomplished plenty of records and making past Babe Ruth references on both pitching and hitting, but at the end of the day, it's become a meme known as Tungsten Arm O'Doyle.
All thanks to one random tweet, the perception of the Angels is Ohtani playing well, but the team still loses games no matter what.
Most recently, he hit a grand slam in a game while the team turned a triple play, but the Angels still lost in extra innings and became the second team in history to do so with those two in-game accomplishments.
There was even a historic seven HR game for the Angels and Ohtani hit two of them, yet the team still lost.
Moreno's problems go beyond the current roster and free agent signings as the farm system treatment has been viewed as one of the worst. Sources confirm these reports how the Angels as an organization have not invested in their minor league players in giving them some of the most awful conditions for an athlete.
As a result, many players feel the apathy or don't feel the proper care is there during their developmental process. Spending on free agents looks good on the surface, but it doesn't excuse the poor infrastructure.
Phil Nevin is Ohtani's fourth manager in six years. Billy Eppler, the GM credited for bringing in Ohtani is currently with the New York Mets. Even the recently fired Joe Maddon had nothing but bad things to say on his departure.
Previously, they handled Josh Hamilton poorly when a drug relapse happened. There's even concerns with what the team did leading to the death of Tyler Skaggs.
When the World Baseball Classic was ongoing for 2023, it was a reminder of what it could be like to see MVPs Trout and Ohtani play postseason baseball in North America. But the issue is remembering they're on the Angels and can't play for USA and Japan all year long.
It only setup for an epic conclusion when Ohtani struck out Trout for the final pitch of the tournament bringing Japan back on top of the world.
There is no hope for this organization as long as Moreno is the owner in charge. As our colleague Jim Allen stated, Moreno is an addict who can't be trusted.
Part of the tragedy is the decision Ohtani made when he was posted to MLB.
Several teams were willing to let him hit, yet somehow he ends up with the Angels, an organization who failed to build a team around him for six years.
Ohtani's UCL tear is more injury to insult than the other way around.
We will gladly eat our words, but the team hasn't done anything, rendering most of these accomplishments as almost meaningless.
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