Angels Outfielder Calls Out Stephen A Smith for Horrendous Shohei Ohtani Take

Leave baseball talk to those who actually know the sport.

Despite throwing out a dismal first pitch at Yankees Stadium on Thursday night, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith's take on Shohei Ohtani's contract situation may have been even worse. 

Citing completely unrelated issues of fan engagement and a lack of winning baseball while on the team, one of Ohtani's teammates came to the defense of both his game and his rightful likely projected price of $500 million in free agency this winter. 

Simple and to the point, Jo Adell's opinion has been echoed across the baseball community in recent days, calling Smith out for his horrendous take and his first pitch, among other things. 

Openly admitting to not watching the sport and that the baseball community should shut their mouths, it makes sense that Smith wouldn't know much about the sport given how little his network promotes it. 

For anyone living in reality who's seen Ohtani's work over the past three seasons, fans, analysts and, more importantly, teams would be more than happy to hand $500 million to the best player the game has ever seen. 

In his past three healthy seasons with lackluster depth surrounding him in both the pitching and hitting ranks, Ohtani has racked up at least 9 WAR, a feat unseen since the height of Barry Bonds' powers to start the millennium. 

Had Aaron Judge not hit 62 home runs last season in his own insane year, Ohtani would've likely won three straight MVP awards, the first to do so since the aforementioned Bonds. 

We doubt that Ohtani is listening to such criticism from someone chasing a headline and engagement as the Japanese superstar is instead chasing the largest contract in MLB history. 

Even with his elbow issue preventing him from pitching in 2024, any team would be wise to give him whatever he wants considering what he can provide to any team.