Several Los Angeles Angels people suggested they believe that superstar Shohei Ohtani would have stayed an Angel had the team agreed to the $700 million, 97 percent deferred offer he suggested to the four finalists he considered signing with, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post:
“The Dodgers, plus the Giants and Blue Jays, are the ones known to have acceded to the winning offer while the Angels did not.
“That’s the word,” Angels All-Star Tyler Anderson said. “He obviously did so well [in Anaheim], and I feel like if he obviously wants to have a Hall of Fame career, if you stay with one team, that’s the way to do it. He was clearly comfortable there to put up the numbers he had and everything he did. I’m sure there’s something to that.”'
But despite the Angels' belief that they could have re-signed him, Heyman notes that the bigger regret that the team has is not trading him last year.
“The bigger regret among some Angels people is in not trading Ohtani at last year’s deadline, because though it was unknown at the time, there was always little in-house expectation ownership would agree to baseball’s biggest contract when it was already paying two $35M-plus salaries (Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon).”
Ohtani ultimately signed that record-breaking deal with the Dodgers, where he is putting up incredible numbers yet again. During the MLB All-Star Game, he also hit a mammoth 3-run homer.
Angels' Anthony Rendon made long-awaited return last week
After a long absence, Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was back last week during a series-opener at home versus the reigning World Series champions Texas Rangers.
Rendon missed a total of 68 games before returning in the Rangers game. A hamstring injury forced the Angels to put him on the 60-day injured list, but he's now back ready to provide what he can for the Halos, who are lagging way behind the race to the top of the American League West division.
Despite the Angels' tough record this season, Rendon still feels happy that he's finally back in action.
“Long time coming,” Rendon shared prior to the start of the Rangers game.
“Ready to keep on going and finish the second half strong,” Rendon added.
A strong second half from Rendon and the rest of the Angels is what Los Angeles needs if it is to sniff a spot in the 2024 MLB playoffs.
Rendon made his presence felt at the plate in his first game back, with an RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Angels their final run of the night. Overall, he went 1-for-4.
Not too shabby for someone who jumped straight to big-league action from injury without doing any rehab assignment for the Angels.
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