A major problem has arisen in the future of Ohtani Shohei. As the sale of the Los Angeles Angels club was unprecedented, the possibility of a trade during this season became very high.
Angels owner Art Moreno said in a press release on the 24th (Korean time), “We feel that by not finalizing the sale process, we can have a positive impact on the team’s future and the fan experience. “We paid the best payroll, and the goal of winning the World Series is still valid. We are excited to open the next chapter in Angels baseball.” Guys, I realized that I’m not ready to say goodbye to our employees.”
Moreno canceled the plan about five months after announcing that he would seek to sell the club in August of last year. The sale price of the Angels club was observed to be around 2.5 billion dollars.
Golden State Warriors owner Joe LaCobb and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong reportedly expressed interest in buying the Angels club. Experts predicted that the sale would be agreed before the start of this season, but in fact, Commissioner Rob Manfred explained that the sale of the Angels was “going smoothly” at the Winter Meeting last December. 토토사이트
Manfred said in a statement that day, “There were investors who expressed a strong desire to buy the Angels club, but the passion for baseball of owner Art Moreto was more important than anything.
In the end, it seems that there was a big difference between the Angels and the buyer in the sale price negotiations.
Moreno bought the Angels team from World Disney for $183.5 million in 2003 and led the team with a charismatic image for 20 years. However, the Angels have never won a World Series championship under Moreno, last in 2002. In particular, from 2015 to last year, they failed to advance to the postseason for 8 consecutive years.
As a result, Ohtani’s course of action also faced a new variable. The Angels originally planned to decide whether to pursue the Ohtani trade issue after selling the club. “There is no Ohtani trade this offseason,” general manager Perry Minassian said in November of last year. In other words, it emphasized the position that Ohtani cannot be let go while the sale of the club is being pursued. This was because whether or not Ohtani was owned had a great impact on the value of the club.
However, now the possibility of the Ohtani trade being revealed has increased. Ohtani will be eligible for free agency after this season. Ohtani, who openly expressed his disappointment with the Angels’ performance and club management at a press conference on his arrival in Japan last October, is expected to knock on the free agent market unconditionally, regardless of whether he is traded this season.