Before Shohei Ohtani made his decision last week to sign with the Dodgers, he and his agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Sports, approached the Angels near the end of his free-agent process, giving Ohtani’s old team a chance to convince him to stay in Anaheim.
However, Angels owner Arte Moreno wouldn’t budge. According to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, Moreno wouldn’t match the 10-year, $700 million deal that Ohtani eventually signed with the Dodgers.
Not even the late effort from Ohtani’s camp to continue negotiations changed his mind.