“We made the right decision.”

That’s what Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian recently told the American media. The implication is that he doesn’t regret not trading Shohei Ohtani, 29, at the trade deadline. This statement defies common sense.

“Do the Angels regret keeping Ohtani? No,” USA Today reported on April 4. Minasian responded by saying, “We made the decision we thought we made. We made the right decision. This is baseball. Anything can happen.”

The Angels are 64-73 through four days, eighth in the American League wild-card race. They are a whopping 12.5 games behind the third-place Houston Astros for the final postseason berth. Their chances of making the postseason are slim to none. In fact, even before the trade deadline, their chances of making the postseason weren’t very good.

Still, the Angels took a chance and became a buyer, adding instant power arms like Lucas Giolito from outside the organization, but their second-half struggles led to recent waivers and an admission of failure. The Angels will miss the postseason and will likely lose Ohtani to another team in free agency.

If the Angels had sold Ohtani earlier, they would have gotten an all-time great prospect package. They could have gotten the foundation for a rebuild. Same postseason failure, different outcome. As it stands, all the Angels have to show for losing Ohtani in free agency is a draft compensation pick in the form of a qualifying offer.

In another paragraph of the article, USA Today reports that Ohtani will soon undergo Tommy John surgery and finish the season outright. In any case, Ohtani’s free agency price tag is set to drop. Some analysts believe that his chances of staying have increased, as he may want to rehab at the Angels’ familiar facility.온라인바카

But even if he doesn’t pitch next year, the general consensus is that the total price tag won’t go below $500 million. If that’s the case, Ohtani is more likely to be traded than stay with the Angels. In the end, the Angels won’t make the postseason this year, they won’t have a future, and they’ll lose Ohtani. In short, it’s a crunch time. I can’t imagine what Angels fans are thinking when they hear the general manager’s comments, and I’m sure they’re not sympathetic.