If HE doesn’t know then neither will we.
Gearing up for the most uncertain offseason in franchise history, the Angels are faced with the biggest decision in quite a while.
Concerning Shohei Ohtani’s impending free agency, many are speculating what the Japanese superstar will do, including some of his own teammates.
“I really haven’t asked him,” Trout said. “Ultimately you can hear all the speculation and whatever you’re going to hear. It all comes down to what he wants and he doesn’t really mention anything about that.”
via Jeff Fletcher, OC Register
Kicking off his season with an individual win over Trout, Ohtani lifted the WBC trophy with his countrymen by defeating the U.S. in the final game as the MVP of the entire tournament.
Many were excited to see what a healthy Ohtani and Trout duo could do with new additions to the rotation, bullpen and some new reinforcements in their lineup with talents young and old.
What was once so promising has completely derailed off the tracks this season as the Angels have never been in a more confusing spot.
In a common theme of the past few Angels seasons with both Trout and Ohtani, the former suffered an injury that halted the progress in the standings that fans wanted to see since 2014.
Such injuries to both Trout and fellow veteran Anthony Rendon forced Ohtani to carry both the underwhelming pitching staff and lackluster hitting core to even have a chance in most games.
The overexertion to an already Herculean workload was too much for Ohtani’s own body to handle as fatigue set in to force him to miss a start in the rotation.
When he returned, Ohtani’s UCL tore and while he’s still continuing to hit in the Angel lineup, the team has now put an unknown element to his free agent contract this summer.
Though no one knows who will sign the unicorn, the lowered rate due to his elbow injury puts even more mystery into the biggest free agency sweepstakes the sport has ever seen.