In any sport, when the season finishes, fans as well as teams begin to take stock and the same question is usually on everyone’s lips: “Who can we get in to take us to the next level?” No matter if your side had a losing record, if they managed to scrape into the playoff or even if they managed to win the World Series, you always feel they can do better. There have been a number of names flying around in the MLB off season, there is a lot of talk, for example, about Giancarlo Stanton and a possible trade to the Yankees.
However one name that has come up more than other is Shohei Ohtani, the 23 year old Japanese wonderkid who has been lighting up baseball and had general managers eulogising his talent across the MLB. According to Rolling Stone magazine, he visited a number of interested teams that included names like The Yankees and The Red Sox. He eventually ended up with a shortlist of seven different team from all over the USA, he had interest from East coast teams like The Cubs as well teams in the South like the Texas Rangers but eventually he made his decision to take his talents to Los Angeles and The Angels.
After recording a losing season this year, albeit a narrow one (80-82), The Angels clearly need to do something to reinvigorate the team and put themselves back on a winning path for 2018. This signing should help them to do it. Ohtani was wooed by so many teams because of his incredible record in Japanese baseball as well as the monstrous natural gifts he has been endowed with. In 2013 he made his debut as an 18 year old for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters starting as a right fielder but would take on pitching duties when needed. In 2014 he showed what a wonderful talent he was, he continued to do some pitching and some fielding all while racking up 10 home runs.
He made the All-Star team in 2015 as well as the Japanese national side, it was becoming very clear that a special talent was flowering even more so when he recorded the fastest pitch in the history of Japanese baseball at 102.5 mph. 2016 saw him hit 22 home runs to show that he really was a true double threat pitcher and batter as he picked up awards that confirmed him as both the best pitcher and hitter in the league.
It is obvious then why so many teams wanted him to join them in the MLB thinking that he could spur them on to glory in 2018. If you are feeling as lucky as The Angels then why not check out William Hill’s offer for football betting as well as their offers for other sports including baseball. It is however not year clear if the Angels luck in getting him will translate to luck in winning next season. He is obviously a great talent but remains very young, it is always hard to deal with hype however if there’s one thing Ohtani has done so far in his career its perform under pressure.
