Winner at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Shohei Ohtani experienced the euphoria of victory with his Japan teammates. Now back in Arizona to finish training camp with the Los Angeles Angels, he has only one thing in mind: to relive such emotions, but in the context of major league baseball.
A free agent in 2024, Ohtani wants to make the playoffs as soon as possible, whether in an Angels uniform or elsewhere. His dream doesn’t stop there as he wants to win the World Series.
The dust is slowly but surely settling on the Japanese’s recent success against the Americans, and baseball fans will long remember the showdown between Ohtani and his Angels teammate Mike Trout. A moment of great intensity and worthy of the best Hollywood scripts.
Now that he has returned to work and is preparing for the 2023 season, Ohtani must deal with a very different reality than that experienced at the last international tournament. The Angels are not favorites (far from it) and they play in the same division as the Astros and the Mariners. The Texas Rangers could even overtake the Angels in the standings at the end of the season.
In short, the chances of seeing Shohei Ohtani participate in the playoffs in the short term are slim and this reality could influence his choice for when he becomes a free agent. Will he decide to trust the management of the Angels in the perspective of working twice as hard to provide the fans with an aspiring team, knowing that Mike Trout and Ohtani are the foundations of this project? Or will he be drawn to a destination that offers a better chance of success?
Now that he has tasted victory and great honors, it will be difficult to repress his dreams with a handful of uncertainties and promises that are renewed year after year.
Flying over the World Classic like he did, the Japanese proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the best players on the planet. Will he accept the role of an exceptional athlete constantly in search of the holy grail in major league baseball without succeeding because he is poorly surrounded?
The leaders of the Angels know what to expect because Ohtani’s plan is clear and the circle is vicious because the more they invest in order to keep him within the team, the less financial resources they will have at their disposal to do well. surround it.
In the short term, baseball fans will be treated to a motivated and in control Shohei Ohtani. It promises.
