Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Isn’t Ready to Think About an Extension Just Yet

It won't come this easy for the Angels.

Shohei Ohtani is coming off one of the greatest seasons in MLB history. 

He set a ton of MLB records, most notably becoming the first player in MLB history to qualify among the league leaders as a hitter and pitcher. He was already nominated for the Hank Aaron award, and will be looking to win his second consecutive MVP award next month. 

Shohei Ohtani tonight:

8 IP
2 H
0 ER
1 BB
10 K
108 Pitches

He also went 2-4 with an RBI.

In his final start of the year, he’ll need to throw 1 inning to become the first player in MLB history to qualify among the league leaders as a pitcher and hitter.

Greatest season ever.

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) September 30, 2022

Before the end of the regular season, Ohtani and the Angels agreed to an MLB-record one-year, $30 million contract to avoid arbitration. Angels GM Perry Minasian has already publicly said that he would love to sign Ohtani for the foreseeable future, but the two-way superstar isn't ready to look that far ahead just yet. 

"We just got the one-year deal. I haven’t thought that far ahead," Ohtani said after the team's final regular season game. "I’m glad we got this over with early, keeping a good relationship with the organization."

Ohtani also went on to say that he needs to be even better next year after signing the record deal.

"Getting paid means there’s a lot more expectations," Ohtani said. "So I need to perform as I’m being paid."

Angel fans would love to have Ohtani locked up before the start of next season, but that seems pretty unlikely. Ohtani knows that just about every team in the league will hand him a blank check after next season, so it's probably in his best interest to wait it out. If the Angels have a good offseason, and can prove to Ohtani that they can compete over the back-half of his career, they'll have a pretty good chance of locking in that extension.