Angels News: Shohei Ohtani 'Far Less Likely' to Remain in Anaheim After Arte Moreno Decision

New York writer Andy Martino says Arte Moreno's decision not to sell the Angels makes it "far less likely" Shohei Ohtani will be back with the team in 2024.

Angels owner Arte Moreno shocked the baseball world this week when he announced that, contrary to his previous decision, he would not be selling the team after all. Instead, Moreno will keep ownership and try to "accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series Championship back to our fans."

One of the immediate questions on everybody's mind was, "What does this mean for Shohei Ohtani?" MLB insider Andy Martino of SNY had that same question, and he came to a depressing conclusion.

"The strong perception around the league was that Moreno’s decision to walk away from more than $2.5 billion made it far less likely that Ohtani, a free agent after this season, would stay in Anaheim. He was already viewed as a likely goner, but one never knows what a new owner could have done to convince him to commit.

"Perhaps, if the Angels had found their own Steve Cohen to breathe new life into the franchise, it would have become a better spot for Ohtani. But Moreno’s poor stewardship is so well established that there appears little reason why Ohtani would choose to remain."

As Martino says, it's been a pretty common assumption that Ohtani would be gone soon, but there was always an outside chance that new blood and big money would come in and convince Ohtani they were committed to winning and to paying him a ridiculous amount of money.

Instead, the question now becomes whether the Halos will backtrack on their insistence that they wouldn't be trading Ohtani. If Shohei makes it clear he's not coming back next year, it would make sense for Moreno and GM Perry Minasian to get whatever they can for him now, instead of just getting a compensation pick next year.

Sadly, it appears our time with Ohtani might be drawing to a close.