“It is questionable whether Moreno can surpass the Los Angeles Dodgers.”
As Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno dismisses the sale of the club as nothing, the future of superstar Shohei Ohtani draws great attention. This is because the owner of Moreno is the one who has to make the final decision on the club’s stance in relation to Ohtani’s move.
The Angels had frequent bad contracts in the past. The payroll was as high as the payroll, and the grades were not as good as the grades. Even now, it has big players such as Mike Trout (12 years, $426.5 million) and Anthony Rendon (7 years, $245 million).
It is unclear whether the owner of Moreno can afford the Ohtani contract, which is said to be worth at least $500 million. If Ohtani is caught, the Angels’ team payroll will unconditionally exceed the luxury tax payment standard of $233 million this season and the luxury tax payment standard of $237 million next year.
Forbes of the United States said on the 25th (hereinafter Korean time), “The Angels have solid finances, such as expected to earn more than $ 25 million this season and no long-term debt. But it’s questionable whether Moreno will outperform the Los Angeles Dodgers, who seem to have Ohtani’s salary space.” In fact, the Dodgers refrain from signing large, long-term contracts this offseason. The evaluation that it is a preliminary work to recruit Ohtani in the 2023-2014 FA market is dominant.
Also, Forbes said, “Even if Moreno gets hold of Ohtani, it will be difficult to spend the money needed on other players to improve the team. The Angels are already projected to have the 10th highest payroll this season.” In other words, catching Ohtani in order to rebuild an already broken team is not a good thing.
In the end, the answer is to trade Ohtani for the Angels. Rather than losing Ohtani in the free agent market, it is more appropriate to trade and receive a rich prospect package and start rebuilding. It’s just the timing of the trade (now or right before the trade deadline) that matters. According to American media, there are many teams that are likely to trade Ohtani, including the New York Mets, in addition to the Dodgers.