The big Shohei Ohtani mystery got resolved Saturday afternoon, but all that did was raise more questions.
The baseball world buzzed Friday night after a report noted that Ohtani’s locker had been cleaned out, yet the Los Angeles Angels would not provide any information on the situation until Saturday.
An Angels statement cleared up the mystery, as the team announced he has been placed on the injured list with an oblique injury and will miss the rest of the season.
Yet that raises the obvious question: Has Ohtani played his final game with the Angels? He’s set to become a free agent after the season. While the torn UCL he recently suffered in his pitching arm has tempered predictions he’ll become MLB’s first $600 million man, he’s still in line for a huge payday.
Whether that’s with the Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants or elsewhere remains to be seen. Yet the sad, anticlimactic way his season ended seems like a bad way to go out with the Angels. The Angels’ reluctance to discuss the situation Friday led to speculation that there had been a split between the superstar and the team.
Baseball fans shared their thoughts on social media.
What about the cleaning out the locker and being sketchy about it last night ?
— The Skippers View (@TheSkippersView) September 16, 2023
That’s what I figured was the case when I heard he cleaned out his locker. Hopefully he has a nice recovery and becomes a Mariner next year.
— B. Klaus (@B_Klaus) September 16, 2023
Arte should have made the trade. oh well.
— Matthew J. Kaner (@matthewjkaner) September 16, 2023
The Angels did everything they could to keep Ohtani by making a playoff run and they failed miserably in every aspect
— MLB The Show 23 Card Art (@mlb22cardart) September 16, 2023
Unfortunate news for Ohtani, but let’s focus on the incredible season he had before that! Free agency will surely be interesting!
— StatistiX (@XStatistiX) September 16, 2023
Should’ve happened a long time ago, no reason for him to play on a 4th place team
— Wise Guy (@YoYoBadabing) September 16, 2023
why couldn’t they just announce this yesterday
— Hunter (@huntg022) September 16, 2023
