Shohei Ohtani Expresses 'Negative Impression' of Angels Season, Despite Personal Success

The historic success of Shohei Ohtani has been well documented, and although he's unlikely to overcome Aaron Judge's remarkable season to win a second consecutive MVP award, his 2022 season with the Angels was his best yet.

Ohtani racked up awe-inspiring statistics, with 34 home runs, 11 steals, a 145 OPS+ and 95 runs batted in, to go along with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings.

Even so, according to Fox News, Ohtani expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the year, saying he had a "negative impression" of the Angels results in the regular season:

"I have to say that August and September in particular felt longer to me than last year," Ohtani said, speaking in Japanese. "We were not able to play as many good games as we would like – including 14 consecutive losses. So I have a rather negative impression of this season."

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels hits a three-run home run at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Just a few weeks ago, Ohtani and the Angels agreed to a 1-year, $30 million contract for the 2023 season.

But with comments like these, it seems reasonable to wonder if Ohtani could be on the move during the offseason.

With new ownership likely coming in Anaheim and Ohtani being the most desirable individual player in MLB -- both for his baseball skills and off the field fan interest -- expressing disappointment with the Angels results is notable.

While it's far from demanding a trade, it's not exactly a positive evaluation of the Angels organization and front office that they put together a team that lost 14 games in a row, even with Ohtani on it.

If he was made available in trade, he'd undoubtedly command a massive return, even with only a year remaining before free agency.

Nearly every team in baseball could use Ohtani, and most probably would be able to use him better than the Angels have.