We watched yet another amazing season from an Angels player. Shohei Ohtani won his second MVP. He is the first player in MLB history to win two unanimous MVP awards.
This MVP is on top of the Silver Slugger Ohtani was awarded last week. The man’s trophy room is getting full. Soon so will his bank account.
As of now Ohtani is a free agent and he turned down his qualifying offer. Where he’ll land and for how much will be the story of the off season.
We’ve now witnessed 3 MVP years from Trout and 2 from Ohtani with nary a playoff appearance in any of those seasons. Will the Angels look to take a step back and build something sustainable? Nah.
Perry Minasian says the Angels will be aggressive this off season and try to build a winner. Ron Washington doubled down saying he’s here to run the West down.
In equally expected news, Ronald Acuna Jr won the NL MVP. Acuna had an incredible year and was the best player on the best regular season team in baseball.
There’s not a ton happening on the player front yet and I can see Ohtani’s decision keeping the free agent market on hold for a while. Add in the fact it is a really bad market and links might be scarce around here for a while. Unless there are trades, and I love trades.
But there is plenty of MLB news,
Also as expected, MLB owners unanimously approved the relocation of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas. I’m looking forward to a road trip to Vegas for an Angels game and a fight but do have serious doubts about their ability to create and grow a hometown fanbase in a city so full of transplants.
Then again, I can always make a much shorter trip to Chavez Ravine and watch a baseball game and tons of fights for the cost of only one ticket, not two.
The A’s moved because they could not reach a stadium deal with Oakland. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers (a team that spends its revenue sharing funds on payroll) did work out a deal for stadium renovations.
I’ve been told by folks who have visited Milwaukee during the summer it is fun. I definitely want to catch a game there.
Now that free agency is set to kick off in earnest, tell me below who you really want the Angels to sign. Yamamoto is it for me.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. We are hoping to get our last game of the year in Sunday depending on the weather. Spending time playing baseball with my son is priceless and I’m so thankful for this year. There are a couple of other kids who really put smiles on my face too and I appreciate the fact I was able to play a minor role in their childhoods.
