Shohei Ohtani’s highly anticipated free agency was already on the horizon, but now it appears as though his time with the Angles might have already come to an end.
The Orange County Register reported Friday night that Ohtani cleared out his locker at Angel Stadium of Anaheim and that “the Angels say they will have no information on what has happened until (Saturday).”
Asked by a follower on X, formerly known as Twitter, if the Angels knew why Ohtani’s locker was cleaned out, Fletcher responded, “They know why. They just don’t want to say till (Saturday).”
Another follower asked if it was normal for a player to clean out his locker once he wouldn’t be playing anymore that season, to which Fletcher replied, “Yes.”
On Saturday, The Athletic’s Sam Blum reported the Angels are shutting down Ohtani with an oblique strain.
Ohtani was set to have perhaps the most lucrative free agency of all-time, as he is both an elite hitter and pitcher in the prime of his career, but he suffered a partial tear of his UCL in his pitching arm last month.
That hasn’t stopped him from performing at the plate, as Ohtani leads the American League with 44 home runs.
Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, told reporters earlier this month that his superstar client will have “some kind of procedure” this offseason, but he will eventually return to pitching and be ready as a hitter for the start of next season.
“Shohei’s gonna be fine,” Balelo said. “Is he gonna pitch the rest of the year? No. We already know that. Is he gonna get into next year? We don’t know yet. So just bear with me on that.
“But I do know this — no matter what timetable we’re dealing with and when we get this done, Shohei’s gonna be in somebody’s lineup next year, DHing when the bell rings. We know that. We’re not gonna push that. He’s gonna be good to go.”
Ohtani, who won the AL MVP Award in 2021 and was runner-up to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in 2022, is a frontrunner for the award again this season.
The Angels, who were expected to at least compete for a wild-card berth this season, are a disappointing 68-80.
Ohtani might not be the only player packing his bags, with USA Today reporting earlier this week the Angels are open to trading three-time MVP Mike Trout if he wants out.
