Angels Players 'Pretty Much Knew' Shohei Ohtani Wasn't Re-Signing, Pitcher Says

The biggest story surrounding the Los Angeles Angels this offseason has been two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani leaving the organization for the cross-town Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani was one of the faces of the franchise, but it was widely expected that he would leave on his first chance.

While on the Foul Territory show, Angels pitcher Reid Detmers opened up about Ohtani moving on. He said the entire team pretty much knew that Ohtani wouldn't be returning to the Halos after last season.

"We pretty much knew he wasn’t going to come back to the Angels, so we were just waiting to see what he did. Then we saw how much it was. We were like ‘holy crap that’s crazy; we expected him to get a lot but not that much, especially after getting (Tommy John surgery). … The first person I texted was Patrick Sandoval and Griffin Canning. Like ‘Did you guys see that?’ They’re like 'yeah, how crazy is that?' I stopped everything and scrolled through Twitter to see what everybody was saying.”

The signs were always there for Ohtani to make his departure from the Angels, especially after they missed the postseason every single season he was on the team.

The Angels weren't able to prove to Ohtani that they could win with him on the roster, and it was clear that winning was of utmost importance to the two-way star.

For his teammates, it wasn't easy to see him go. He was in Anaheim for six years, and was said to be a clubhouse favorite.

For the organization as a whole, though, the Angels can now move on from Ohtani to create their new future. With players like Detmers on the roster, the Halos have a good foundation to build upon in the post-Ohtani era.