Glaser: As Angels Continue Winning, Keeping Shohei Ohtani Becomes Clear Choice
Image credit: Shohei Ohtani (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, Calif. — With each passing day, the Angels’ decision about whether to trade or keep Shohei Ohtani becomes clearer and clearer.
Ohtani hit his major league-leading 36th home run of the season to help the Angels beat the Pirates, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon. The Angels have won five of their last six and sit just four games back of an American League wild card spot.
When the Angels were on the fringes of postseason contention, whether or not they should trade Ohtani was debatable. Now, there is little debate to be had.
The Angels are squarely in the middle of the AL playoff race. As long as that remains the case between now and the Aug. 1 trade deadline, keeping the game’s most talented player is a straightforward and obvious choice.
“He’s really important for the team,” said Angels infielder Luis Rengifo, who homered from both sides of the plate in consecutive innings Sunday. “Every single time when you see Shohei and he does his thing, it helps the team and fires up everybody in the lineup.
“Right now the most important is to win games and get in the playoffs. That’s the goal.”
The ceaseless speculation about Ohtani’s future has obscured the facts of the Angels present. The Angels are averaging the most runs per game in the AL since the all-star break and have hit the most homers of any team in the majors since the break. They’ve won two of their three series since the season resumed and are a ninth-inning bullpen collapse against the Astros away from having won all three.
To be clear, the Angels are not a great team. They are 51-49, barely over .500, and in third place in their own division. They are just 26-33 against teams with winning records and have yet to prove they can consistently compete with baseball’s best.
But they have proven a resilient team, in no small part due to Ohtani. Despite losing Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon to injuries, despite an underperforming rotation and predictably bad bullpen that each rank 20th in the majors in ERA, despite an error-prone defense that is one of the worst in the majors by any measure, the Angels have found a way to stay in the thick of the playoff race.
“You know, for us, it’s more about the fight in the dog,” starter Tyler Anderson said. “With our dogs, more dogs have been out. All of our guys, everybody’s got a lot of fight in them … and I think that takes you a long way.”
The Angels have a prime opportunity to move up the wild-card standings in the coming days. Their next three games are against the 45-54 Tigers, followed by a critical three-game series against the Blue Jays, who currently hold the final AL wild card spot. If the Angels continue their recent play, they could very conceivably be in playoff position heading into the final 24 hours before the trade deadline.
That, of course, would make their decision about keeping Ohtani even easier.
“Our guys are responding well,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “I think everybody knows what’s in front of us.”
It shouldn’t need to be repeated, but it often does in today’s world: the point of the game is to win. It’s not to amass years of control. It’s not to maximize trade value. It’s not to have the highest-ranked farm system. Those are all methods to help achieve the goal, but they are not the ultimate goal themselves. The goal is win games in the major leagues, get to the postseason and win some more.
The Angels’ greatest failure will not be if they fail to obtain maximum trade value for Ohtani. Their greatest failure will be if they fail to reach the postseason with him on their roster.
They have only one more chance to do so before he reaches free agency at the end of this season. As long as a playoff spot is in reach, as it is now, keeping the game’s most talented player is the only choice for the Angels to make.
