How many wins do the LA Angels need to keep Shohei Ohtani?

If Los Angeles The Angels won’t make the playoffs this season, so there’s no question that Shohei Ohtani is gone. Now in the sixth MLB season and heading into free agency, has yet to reach the postseason and said winning is the most important thing to him.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I like the team atmosphere. But I want to win more than that. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that” Ohtani said in the offseason when asked about his future.

Yes. This quote came through an interpreter, so maybe take it with a grain of salt, but the fact that he had to counter his love for the Angels with “but I want to win” is pretty damning.

In order to have any chance of re-signing him, you can’t just hunt. They have to show that they will fight consistently. It’s entirely possible they sneak into the final wild card spot this season and Ohtani still walks, which in some ways is the organization’s worst-case scenario. It would be an easy decision to make if they lose 12 in a row like they did this time last year or run away with their division.

I’ll admit that if they’re still reasonably hunting at the trade deadline, it’s hard to make a case for them becoming sellers and trading Ohtani. There is no easy answer. The Angels’ The front office will be in the unenviable position of walking a tightrope, with every July result swaying them one way or another.

Some say it would be crazy to trade him, but the idea of ​​the greatest baseball talent ever going for nothing makes it impossible not to. They need to be good enough to not only make the playoffs, but good enough to show Ohtani that they can do it year after year. Of course, only Ohtani knows how good they have to be to get re-signed, but let’s try to come up with an educated guess.

They are currently 28 years olduntil -23 51 games, one game, match the back of the last beast card slot. on July 31 last year’s three teams in the AL wild card slot were the three that were there at the end of the season. They had 57, 55, and 54 wins, respectively, and were far from breaking away from the field.

Angels are not only fair

Let’s say the Angels need at least a playoff spot to justify keeping Ohtani through the final two months of his contract. But I think it’s also safe to assume that they’re going to have to get past that and show that they’re going to make a playoff run.

I think roughly 60-47 until July is the threshold to show Ohtani that they are serious contenders. That’s a tall order, with the Rangers and Astros trailing in their respective divisions and the defending World Series champions on eight-game winning streaks. Also on their trail are the Mariners, who are looking to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. The third wildcard spot is currently being chased by the Yankees, who have returned to their form of last year since Aaron Judge left the IL.