Shohei Ohtani Officially Becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent, What Comes Next for Angels?

Shotime enters the hot stove.

The exclusive negotiating window between the Angels and superstar Shohei Ohtani expired at 2 PM PT on Monday. With that, Ohtani officially became an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team.

As the clock expired, the team extended a qualifying offer to the 29-year-old valued at $20.32 million this offseason. Sam Blum of The Athletic was among those to report the news.

The Angels confirm they’ve extended a qualifying offer to Shohei Ohtani. Not a surprise there.

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) November 6, 2023

As Blum notes, none of this is surprising. Ohtani always planned to test free agency in earnest this winter and now enters the hot stove season as the top player on the open market.

What Comes Next for Shohei Ohtani and the Angels?

Ohtani is fully expected to reject the $20.32 million qualifying offer contract for the 2024 season and set a new record with a multi-year deal on the free agent market. The next key date in this saga is November 14th which is the deadline for players to accept or reject the qualifying offer. After earning $30 million in 2023, it will certainly be rejected. 

Can The Angels Still Re-Sign Shohei Ohtani?

The Angels will have as good of an opportunity as any team to sign the soon-to-be two-time AL MVP. One thing the Angels organization can provide that no other team can is familiarity. Ohtani has spent the last six seasons in Anaheim and has established relationships with key members of his personal team (agent, personal trainer, etc) in the area. That's one reason the Dodgers have been often viewed as favorites to sign the All-Star -- it wouldn't be a massive shock to his day-to-day to work a bit further up the I-5 freeway.

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