Bright Side

[ScottT]

16 minutes ago, Stradling said:

An article came out last year saying that was about $10 million a season. 

I know, but that isn't  exactly reliable.  I'm also not sure they don't share a portion of almost everything.   

[EDinTUSTIN]

21 hours ago, oldguy said:

Agree 100%.  It might be worth it if you're a legit playoff team and can get him to start some playoff games, but the Angels just never had the organizational depth for a 6-man rotation.  This year, our number 6 starters had a negative WAR, so that detracted from our number 1.

Also, I'm a huge Ohtani fan and wouldn't mind seeing him in the playoffs.  Especially if the WBC was any indicator of what he'd do under pressure.  Frankly, he deserves better than the fiasco taking place in Anaheim.

Yes and no.

Yes, the Angels failed miserably to surround him -- and Trout -- with talent or just mostly above average players and on-field management. He came here with the understanding that this was a big-market organization. With players of their rare caliber and talent, you take advantage of that and build a good team around them that they -- and in turn --the team, can flourish with. That, in my mind, was indeed a travesty and for an owner that just had to use the name 'Los Angeles' in his team's title -- they are from Orange County and we support this team, hot LA or their market -- because it was supposed to bring in a harvest of wealth and big-market money and exposure, yet we end up with a supporting cast of mediocrity, is nothing short of ludicrous.

No, because first, the Angels did -- and agreed to do what Ohtani most wanted -- to be given the rare opportunity to be a two-way player and carve out his spot in that rarified arena, something that has not been done in decades, to have his name written in the annals of baseball history. No other team seemed to be willing to do that. The Angels did take that risk -- of course, the injuries now prove it -- so in that way, the Angels bent over backwards to help him achieve that dream all while paying him handsomely and generously for the privilege. The organization does deserve credit, and his gratitude for that. I like him; he has done wonderful things; he is disciplined and doesn't get into trouble, but I am of the opinion that he still has a lot of growing up to do as well. He -- as well as almost every major leaguer -- are feted like royalty. Most of them earn more in one season than most people earn in a lifetime, often a lifetime of busting their butts to pay a mortgage, educate their kids, and put food on the table, and hope they can save enough for a decent and modest retirement. Ohtani needs to understand that on two different occasions, his services to the team were lost due to an elbow injury. I know it sucks for him, and it wasn't his intention to be injured and he wants to play and contribute, but let us not forget, he was paid rather huge coin while he was injured and unable to perform. Let that be any of us and see how we fare. 

There are two sides of every coin in life.

 

[Skankhunt42]

The biggest bright side is the Angels aren't my local team.

[Chico]

Ohtani is a two-way wonder, that's for sure. But as a pitcher he isn't a rubber-armed innings-eating hog that the Angels need. In five years he has pitched in a grand total of 86 games: 

2018: 10 games, 2019: Injured: 0 games, 2020: 2 games, 2021: 23 games, 2022: 28 games and 2023: 23 games.

I think Ohtani needs to give up pitching. He's proven himself as a 100mph strikeout ace but he has no durability as a pitcher. The Angels have bent over backwards to help him prove himself as a two-way phenom and he has. But he physically can't take pitching anymore. Focus on hitting. 

The Angels have had to have anonymous plug-ins for pitchers because they took their eye off the ball and went for the bright shiny objects like Trout, Rendon and Ohtani, two of the three, maybe three of the three who are now chronically hurt. Individual achievements are fine but not at the expense of the team.

Bottom line, Angels need a new owner who pays for a proper baseball organization, proper training and nutrition for his players and a proper balance to the lineup, not the top-weighted lineup we have now. Arte has a bottomless zeal to show Angels' fans how great of an owner he is by paying through the nose for these often-injured superstars and he isn't going to change his spots.