The Los Angeles Angels have the most valuable pending free agent in baseball: Shohei Ohtani.
He will play out the 2023 season with the Angels (unless he is traded at some point in the second half), but will test the free agent market when the World Series is over.
Ohtani has a chance of scoring the first $500 million contract in MLB history.
He could potentially opt to stay with the Angels, though.
Here are two reasons why he should analyze that alternative.
1. Loyalty
No one is going to criticize Ohtani if he decides to leave Los Angeles and look for a more concrete chance of winning the World Series.
He has every right to do it.
However, wouldn’t it be cool if he retires as a one-club man?
Wouldn’t it be something if Mike Trout and Ohtani led the Angels’ renewed postseason hopes for the next five, eight, or ten years?
Again, loyalty may be overrated these days, but it still means something.
It is the stuff of legends, after all: many of the game’s brightest stars had the honor of defending just one uniform during their entire careers.
This is the strongest reason why I believe Ohtani willl stay with the @Angels
To a guy like Ohtani, loyalty matters much more than money
The Angels always let Ohtani do what he wanted to do, have always stuck by him, & have always supported him
Ohtani will resign with Angels
— Chris (@mmaballer13_) January 30, 2023
The Angels would need to do a 180-degree turn in many aspects to convince him to stay, but it would be cool if he was an Angel for life.
2. Closeness To Home
Many Japanese players prefer the West Coast when they come to MLB.
It’s logical, in fact: they want to be closer to home, and if they sign on the East Coast, that won’t be the case.
Ohtani is no exception.
He is not completely ruling Eastern teams out or anything, but staying with the Angels will give him the chance to stay closer to home.
For MLB players, that’s really important: they are people just like all of us, and want their family as close as it can be.
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