Former Angels manager Joe Maddon expressed his belief that Los Angeles' odds of re-signing Shohei Ohtani are "not very good" during an appearance this week on the "Starkville" podcast, a show hosted at The Athletic by ballwriter Jayson Stark and longtime big-league outfielder Doug Glanville. Maddon added that he believes the Angels would need to make a deep run in the playoffs to convince Ohtani that they're worth remaining with long-term.
For those unaware: Maddon managed Ohtani and the Angels from Opening Day 2020 until last June, when he was fired in the midst of a 12-game losing streak. He's since co-authored a book and co-hosted a podcast, along with partaking in a media tour.
Of course, Maddon's assertions are notable only because he had firsthand experience with Ohtani and claims to still speak with him "a lot." Otherwise, his comments sound identical to what a lot of folks, in and outside of the industry, have said about Ohtani's situation dating back through last summer's trade deadline and beyond. To wit, here's what CBS Sports wrote last July:
Even if the Angels can offer Ohtani a ton of money -- and as we established above, it may not be the most money -- it's not clear they can offer him a realistic path to a World Series ring. If they can, they sure haven't proven as much. Ohtani has been a member of the Angels roster since 2018. They haven't finished at .500 or better in that time, and they aren't likely to change that this year; rather, they're on pace to win the lowest percentage of games in his big-league career. Yikes.
Ohtani, 29 come July, will qualify for free agency after this season. He's expected to be hotly pursued, with all the major contenders -- including the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets -- attempting to land the two-way star. Despite Ohtani and Mike Trout giving the Angels two of the best players in the world, Los Angeles has not made the postseason since 2014.
The Angels entered Wednesday with a 12-12 record on the young season, putting them 2 1/2 games back in the American League West. Ohtani, for his part, entered the day with a 116 OPS+ as a batter and a 709 ERA+ as a pitcher, the product of having surrendered just two earned runs in his first 28 innings.
