"Angels didn't offer Shohei Ohtani what Dodgers could" - Ex-MLB pro claims Halos loyalists have no reason to hold ill will against Japanese star

Having initially begun his MLB career in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani decided to move to cross-city rivals the Dodgers in free agency.

The 31-year-old has seemingly moved on to bigger and better things ever since, winning his first World Series title in his first year on the blue side of LA, while the Angels have struggled and look likely to miss the playoffs for the eleventh straight season.

As a result, some Angels fans harbor animosity towards Ohtani for the way he left the Angels to join the Dodgers. As former big leaguer Trevor Plouffe explained during Thursday's episode of "Baseball Today", however, there is no reason for that to be the case.

"I don't think [the Angels fans should hate Shohei Ohtani] at all. If they do, that's crazy. I think they should love him, he chose the Angels. That should mean something, and he put together some really, really nice seasons out there. At the end of the day, the Angels didn't offer him what the Dodgers could offer him."

"The fact that he signed with the Dodgers, maybe irked some Angels fans a little bit. But, I don't think they should hold any ill-will, and they should really celebrate the fact that this guy chose them. We saw some incredible baseball in Anaheim [during Ohtani's stint]. I don't think Shohei did anything wrong to Angels fans," Plouffe said [9:40]

Despite Shohei Ohtani homering in successive games, the Angels swept the Dodgers in Anaheim

Putting the highly unpredictable nature of major league baseball on full display this week, the Los Angeles Angels managed to sweep the Dodgers in the latest edition of the Freeway Series, which took place in Anaheim.

As a result, the Angels, who have been struggling for consistency all season and look likely to miss out on the postseason yet again, are 6-0 for the season against one of the biggest favorites to win the World Series come October.

Shohei Ohtani in the dugout during the Dodgers' clash against the Angels - Source: Getty

Though Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani did his best to give his team a chance to win, hitting home runs in back-to-back games, the red-hot Angels offense ran riot, with shortstop Zach Neto and outfielder Taylor Ward playing starring roles.

After getting swept in Anaheim, the Dodgers have now fallen a game behind rivals the San Diego Padres in the NL West.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer