Angels owner Arte Moreno finally reveals why he didn’t re-sign Shohei Ohtani

There have been a number of controversial moves (or lack of moves) that Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno has made over the past decade. While the initial decade of Moreno’s ownership was largely a success, the last decade has left many questions as the Angels remain out of the playoffs for the 10th straight season.

One of those controversial moves was the decision to let two-way star Shohei Ohtani leave in free agency. Ohtani won the American League MVP award twice with the Angels and was named to the MLB All-Star team three times, but the Angels chose to let Ohtani become a free agent and not even only change it to recover players and/or prospects.

Moreno said the Angels’ contracts with Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon prevented the Angels from re-signing Ohtani to an extension. Trout signed a 12-year, $426 million extension with the Angels in March 2019 and makes $37.1 million per year. Later that year in December, Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with $38.5 million per year, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

Unfortunately, both of these deals have not paid off for the Angels. While Trout is already a big man for the Angels and remains productive when he’s on the field, he and Rendon have dealt with numerous injuries since signing long-term deals with the Angels.

Meanwhile, Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 10-year, $700 million deal. The contract appears to have paid off as Ohtani has posted historic numbers in his first season with the Dodgers, becoming the first player in MLB history with at least 50 stolen bases and home runs in a single season. The Dodgers had several other major contracts on their payroll, but were able to bring Ohtani in by deferring the bulk of his contract.

Moreno further admitted that the Angels could have traded Ohtani but didn’t because they believed they were still in contention to make the playoffs in 2023, their goal. The Angels had a 56-51 record at the time of the 2023 MLB trade deadline and had a chance to qualify for the postseason. The Angels’ run to the playoffs didn’t work out as Ohtani ended up tearing his UCL and missed the end of the season as the Angels missed the playoffs again.