Can the Los Angeles Angels afford to extend Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani is destined for a massive contract in the near future, whether it is through an extension with the Los Angeles Angels or free agency. The consensus among most people is that the Angels cannot afford to extend Ohtani. Let’s take a look and see if that is the truth.

Can the Los Angeles Angels really afford to extend Shohei Ohtani?

I think it’s fair to assume that Ohtani’s contract will be somewhere in the realm of eight to 10 years, and in the ballpark of $45-$50 million per year. His potential extension wouldn’t kick in until 2024, and the Los Angeles Angels have the following contracts allocated that year (per Spotrac):

Mike Trout: $37 million

Anthony Rendon: $38 million

Raisel Iglesias: $16 million

David Fletcher: $6 million

Max Stassi: $7 million

Notable players under arbitration that year include: Jared Walsh, Jose Quijada, Patrick Sandoval, Taylor Ward, and Jo Adell.

That leaves a grand total of roughly $104 million of non-arbitration money already committed. The arbitration-eligible players are key players as well, but I would say $10 million total for arbitration and team control players is best case scenario for the Angels.

I am going to predict a backloaded contract for Ohtani if they want to make this work, so that leaves $114 million plus Ohtani’s $46 million equals $160 million. Their total payroll this year is $190 million, so assuming owner Arte Moreno doesn’t want to open up his checkbook more, that would leave the Angels with $30 million to fill a lot of gaps in their roster.

The gaps include most of their rotation, most of their bullpen, a middle infielder, and a third baseman to inevitably take over for Rendon. They can’t expect a ton of help from one of the league’s worst farm systems either.

The Angels can certainly afford to obtain Ohtani, but fielding a competitive team around him is almost impossible with an awful farm system. The Rendon contract appears to be the nail in the coffin for this Angels team.

Former GM Billy Eppler brought Ohtani to Anaheim in the first place, and will most likely be the reason he has to leave with the last-ditch effort of signing Rendon. Luckily for Eppler, he has a blank checkbook with the Mets, so he may be reunited with Ohtani after all.