The Angels are coming off another disappointing season, missing the playoffs for the eighth straight year and fifth straight with Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the team together. Los Angeles even fired manager Joe Maddon mid-season, replacing him with Phil Nevin.
During the season, Ohtani didn’t comment much on the state of the team, but he did so with the season over this week. While giving an interview in a Japanese airport, the superstar two-way player said he was disappointed by the way the season ended.
“I have to say that August and September in particular felt longer to me than last year,” Ohtani said in Japanese, via the Associated Press. “We were not able to play as many good games as we would like—including 14 consecutive losses. So I have a rather negative impression of this season.”
Ohtani added that he had “a good season for me personally,” in which he hit 34 home runs while hitting and totaled a 2.33 ERA while pitching. He also became the first player ever to qualify statistically as both a hitter and pitcher in the same season.
Entering his final year of arbitration, Ohtani agreed to a one-year, $30 million contract with the Angels for the 2023 season, which will be his final year before hitting free agency.
With the Mariners and Phillies making the playoffs this season, the Angels are now tied for the longest active playoff drought in baseball. They may also soon experience an ownership change, as Arte Moreno said he will explore selling the team.
