The Angels should do everything in their power to retain Shohei Ohtani. He’s unquestionably baseball’s top player, and he’d be one of the game’s best hitters even if he never threw another pitch again. Keeping Ohtani seems like a no-brainer to me. In addition, he is the lone free agent they should sign to a contract worth nine figures.

The Angels have a terrible track record of handing out massive contracts to free agents. I could go on and on about how great they are, but I won’t. These contracts look excellent on paper and are great when the team wins a championship, but if the club doesn’t win anything in the first two years, the contract is terrible when the player’s performance drops.

The Angels should invest heavily in a starting pitcher if they decide to sign a free agent. Ohtani is the only true frontline starter the franchise has had, and whether he stays or goes, he won’t be pitching for them in 2019. The issue is that the Angels don’t have to pay anyone.

For the Phillies, Aaron Nola has having a terrible season. Julio Urias hasn’t been in the best of health and has had a rough year. Blake Snell has been fantastic, but his performance in the years prior to this one was inconsistent. Yoshinobo Yamamoto would be a lot of fun if Shohei Ohtani decides to stay, but right now he’s just a mystеry. I’m not sure how close to nine figures the asking prices are for guys like Clayton Kershaw, Sonny Gray, Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman, and Jordan Montgomery.

There doesn’t appear to be a clear cut ideal candidate for the Angels to go all out in the market. They won’t win the World Series in 2024 if they sign Aaron Nola. There’s still a ton of stuff that needs doing.