PHOENIX — Even now, Shohei Ohtani isn’t sure how much things might have been different this winter. So much of his decision to ink a record-setting contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers has appeared obvious, almost preordained. After all, the organization’s courtship of Ohtani had spanned more than a decade. And yet, there’s something left unsaid.
Ohtani chose the Angels the last time around, however logical or successful that decision wound up being.
His departure from Anaheim wasn’t a clean cut, because the Angels didn’t give him a chance to say no.
As Ohtani concluded his tour of free agency in December, each club still in the mix was given the opportunity to match what would be an unprecedented offer: 10 years, $700 million, with all but $20 million of it deferred. In many ways, given the countless opportunities to generate revenue off his likeness, a blank check to a club to build around him.
The Dodgers jumped at it, and nearly doubled their $700 million investment by the time the winter was over. The San Francisco Giants were willing to jump in the Ohtani business. So were the Toronto Blue Jays.
The incumbent Angels, and owner Arte Moreno, were not.
“I’m just thankful and grateful for the teams that ended up offering a contract,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on Monday, the eve of Ohtani’s first regular-season games back at Angel Stadium against his old club. “That’s the reflection of what they think about me.”
The Angels “had every opportunity” to retain Ohtani, his agent Nez Balelo said at the time. That includes keeping Ohtani for each of his final two trade deadlines rather than moving him for what could have been a hefty haul of prospects (the Dodgers, of course, would have remained interested in the trade market, too).
Ohtani said it’s “hard to tell” whether he would’ve accepted the Angels’ offer had they matched.
“Obviously the offer didn’t come to fruition,” Ohtani said. “It’s really a situation where it’s more of ‘if they did,’ so I can’t really speak on that.”
Ohtani made his unofficial return to his former ballpark in March as part of an exhibition series fraught with looming controversy surrounding his now-former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Ohtani, who won two American League MVPs and was the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year during his six seasons in Anaheim, received a rousing ovation. The organization posted a tribute video on the big screen of the ballpark, with the two-way superstar’s several historic accomplishments littering the club’s famed “Calling All Angels” hype video.
“I’m sure they’ll do a little video tribute again, because he’s one of a kind,” Freddie Freeman said.
He’s also already faced his old club, with the Dodgers taking both games at Dodger Stadium in June. This will represent something different.
“For me, it’s a special place,” Ohtani said. “Obviously, I spent pretty much the most time (there) compared to other stadiums, and being able to spend the time playing in front of fans.”
Those fans, in all likelihood, will reciprocate when Ohtani makes his return on Tuesday.
When he steps into the batter’s box at Angel Stadium in the top of the first inning on Tuesday, it will mark his first time doing so in that ballpark for a club that is guaranteed to finish with a winning record. Ohtani’s excellence in Anaheim came without a crack at October glory; a lineup that paired the game’s most tantalizing talent and perhaps its best player at the time in Mike Trout did not culminate in anything better than the 80-82 record the Angels finished with in 2018.
“Them not winning there had nothing to do with his performance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So that’s one part of it. He did a lot for that franchise, and the negotiations, all that stuff — I don’t think they were in the conversation. So that’s not a slight on Shohei, right? So I think the fans will receive him really well with gratitude and appreciation.”
Ohtani’s Dodgers have won a major league-best 83 games thus far this season, championed in part by his defining season as a hitter — at 44 home runs and 46 stolen bases, he’s the fastest in major league history to 40-40 and remains on pace to be baseball’s first-ever 50-50 man.
“He’s on a mission,” Roberts said. He’s also in pursuit of something different than he had in any of his years in Anaheim.
Ohtani has followed the Angels this season. He’s enjoyed watching some of the club’s young nucleus come together. In Ron Washington’s first season as manager, they remain in a familiar place: last.
(Photo: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
