Angels News: Halos Insider Thinks LA Has a Shot to Re-Sign Shohei Ohtani Long Term

Some promising news for worried Angels fans.

Shohei Ohtani's impending free agency is the biggest story of 2023. Ohtani is going to be one of the most sought after free agents in sports history, and could command a deal upwards of $500 million.

There are sure to be 30 teams interested in his services, but only a few are likely to stand out with a real shot at signing him to a long term deal. Angels insider Sam Blum of The Athletic did a mailbag article, where he answered fan questions about the Halos. One of the questions, of course, was about the Angels' chances of re-signing Ohtani next offseason. Here's what he said:

"The Angels if, and only if, the team is successful in 2023 and the new owner has the resources to invest a ton of money into a contract extension," Blum wrote. "So the new owner will need to be willing to go over the luxury tax. If they are willing to do that, then the Angels seemingly will have a shot."

There are a few things that would have to happen, according to Blum, the first one seeming to be the biggest unknown. He says the Angels need to be successful in 2023 for them to have any shot at convincing him to sign long-term.

Since Ohtani's debut season in 2018, the Angels are 328-380, good for 21st in the league in that time span — that's not good. Ohtani has made it clear that he wants to play for a winner, and if the Angels' all-in offseason doesn't translate to wins, then they can pretty much kiss him goodbye. That's only the first part, though.

The second contingency is that the new owner will be interested in giving out what's likely to be the largest contract in MLB history to Ohtani, which would definitely put them over the luxury tax (which the Angels have never done before). If he's buying the Angels for billions of dollars, it's pretty safe to assume he'll be committed to spending.

If all of that happens, then Blum thinks there's a shot the Angels can convince him to sign long-term. If that doesn't feel like good news, Blum did say he only thinks three teams have a real shot at Ohtani — the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets and the Angels. So, if Steve Cohen and the Mets spent all their money this offseason, it could come down to a battle of LA. And in that case, maybe Ohtani will prefer to just stay put.