Last Night, Shohei Ohtani Cleared Out His Locker And Walked Out On The Los Angeles Angels
Yeah, getting your shit kicked in by the Tigers will do that to you.
No official report has come out on why Ohtani decided to do this. Who knows? I'm writing this blog at 5:15 in the morning. By the time it gets uploaded, we may have the final answer. But it's very, very clear that the line of communication between the Los Angeles Angels players and the front office is seemingly nonexistent. Ohtani's been banged up for a heavy majority of the second half of the season. It may be an injured back from having to carry the entire organization, or it may be the torn UCL that he's dealing with. Or maybe he's just fucking tired of dealing with the endless amount of crap that comes out of the Los Angeles Angels organization.
If this is it for Ohtani in an Angels uniform, I don't blame him for straight-up walking out on this team. We have two weeks left in the season. Ohtani is about to be a unanimous MVP once again, and the Los Angeles Angels are going to be a 70-something-win team, which is what they've been for a heavy majority of Ohtani's tenure.
Advertisement
At this point, I feel like I've written more Los Angeles Angels blogs than I have Detroit Tigers blogs. You could write an entire novel just about the last several months of Los Angeles Angels baseball. Their reckless and asinine decision to buy at the deadline completely backfired in their face. Do you know how cool it would've been if Ohtani was playing for a contender right now? They basically held onto him at the deadline, mainly out of pride. This team knew they weren't going anywhere. Did they really think that Lucas Giolito would turn the clock back four years? They sold off the best pieces of their farm system in the hopes of playing some meaningful baseball in September. They didn't. The Detroit Tigers beat them so badly last night that the Angels were forced to pitch a position player in the eighth inning. If I were Ohtani, I'd walk out, too.
If this truly is it for Shohei Ohtani as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, then this is a fitting end. There will be no standing ovation or proper send-off. There sure as hell won't be a playoff chase to look forward to. Ohtani will be going out on his terms by walking out on the organization that let him down repeatedly. Put a thank you in the paper after signing a contract with another team and call it a day. Ohtani has already been dealing with a torn UCL. I'm sure he'll find his way back to the mound again, but the idea of him putting together another elite three-year stretch as a two-way player seems like a long shot. He's had his best years. The Angels wasted those years. What a shame.