Hardly 12 hours had passed since the World Series ended. The smell of rancid champagne likely still permeated within the depths of the Yankee Stadium tunnels. The victors were probably still in the throes of a nasty but well-deserved hangover.
That’s when Jorge Soler got a call, having just finished a workout near his home in Miami. He was on the move to the Los Angeles Angels . The first blockbuster of the baseball offseason.
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I don’t know a whole lot about the team, but I’m good as of right now,” Soler said on Thursday morning through an interpreter. The vast majority of the baseball world could appreciate watching Shohei Ohtani celebrate in the wee hours of Thursday morning, his normal stoicism shifting to a child-like giggle as he accomplished everything he could not in Anaheim. But for the Angels and their fans, it was a very stark reminder of their failures.
Both to field a winning club around him or to make anything resembling a competitive offer to re-sign him. Shohei Ohtani. #WorldSeries champion.
🤩 pic.twitter.com/HeGJeQZWKs — MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2024 It’s hard not to see this move in the context of what happened the night prior.
It was a splash, one that drew attention away from the Angels’ mistakes, mistakes that led directly to the Dodgers’ success. It gives the fan base an injection of optimism, even if it doesn’t come as part of a plan for sustainable improvement. “We’re.