Angels Rumors: Halos Pursuit of Shohei Ohtani May Keep Them Out of Running for Another Japanese Superstar Pitcher

Hopefully, they can land Ohtani..

This offseason will see one of the bigger international free agents since Shohei Ohtani signed with an MLB team. Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is primed to be the next big thing in the Major Leagues, and there will be plenty of teams bidding on his services this offseason.

The 25-year-old pitcher is making his way to the big leagues, and it has been reported that many big market teams are getting ready for a bidding war for him.

However, Jon Heyman of The New York Post is reporting that the Angels may not be in on Yamamoto, because they are so focused on retaining Shohei Ohtani.

“... Most are writing off the incumbent team, but Ohtani did put together three extraordinary seasons over there. The Angels are so invested in Ohtani they may be the one big-market team not in on pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.”

Per Jon Heyman of The NY Post

Yamamoto would give the Angels a prime front-line starter to go in their rotation, but Ohtani should be their focus this offseason. If they can’t resign him, then their entire outlook moving forward becomes a little shaky.

He has been the lifeblood of this organization since he joined them, and it would sting if they lost him. If Ohtani does sign somewhere else, the Angels would receive a compensation pick, but that would go so far.

Seeing Ohtani wearing another team's jersey would hurt, but they did it to themselves. They had some bad luck along the way, but not reaching the postseason one time during his tenure was always going to cost them.

The Angels hope that Ohtani is comfortable enough to stay with the organization, but he has made it clear that he wants to win. They can’t convince Ohtani of that, so Yamamoto may not want to join them anyway.

It’s a tough spot that the Halos find themselves in, but one that has been coming for quite some time now. It will be an interesting offseason for the team, and everyone will have their eyes on how they go about things.