Angels Fanbase Is In Hell After Ohtani, Trout Injuries

They may need to make another Angels In The Outfield movie after last night, because God knows this team needs it.

In what has been an absolute disaster of an end-of-season-run by the Los Angeles Angels, last night the team learned that Shohei Ohtani tore his UCL and sidelined from pitching the rest of the season. They also announced that Mike Trout is back on the IL after suffering another wrist injury.

You can't make it up. I'm not even sure real angels can help this fanbase cope right now.

OHTANI WAS HAVING A HISTORIC SEASON

When you include the fact that the team decided not to trade Ohtani before he becomes a free agent and likely leaves the team this offseason, Angels ownership has to be looking at each other just absolutely dumbfounded.

They had an opportunity to trade Ohtani. Instead, they chose to roll the dice and go all-in. Now, the two biggest names they've had in decades are both out for the rest of the season. This, my friends, is why we drink.

I mean, just listen to manager Perry Minasian talking to reporters after last night's doubleheader. The guy looks like he's about to cry. His heavy breathing and exasperation looks like he just came off an absolute BENDER of a weekend.

OHTANI MAY NEED TOMMY JOHN SURGERY

Ohtani was taken out of Wednesday's Angels vs. Reds game in just the 2nd inning after glancing over to the Angels dugout and indicating that something was wrong. At first, it seemed like it was just a precautionary exit - something that Ohtani has had in recent months due lingering fingernail and arm fatigue issues. He even returned and hit in the 2nd game of the Angels doubleheader.

But then the news that nobody wanted to hear - not even just Angels fans - Ohtani would be ending his historic season, and also possibly needs surgery.

Without sounding too hysterical, Ohtani's baseball future may have changed in one pitch.

DID OHTANI JUST LOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS?

One of the main reasons has to do with his health history. He already has had one Tommy John surgery, he most likely will need another. Sure, pitchers come back after having two of them, but that's far and few between. Also, when it comes to surgery and arm ligaments, you never know what can happen. Ohtani could very well return and not nearly be the same dominant pitcher that has registered 542 strikeouts in the past three seasons. We simply do not know. It's a gamble.

The timing couldn't come at a worse time for the soon-to-be free agent. In ten weeks, he does not have a team. He was expected to become the highest-paid MLB player in the history of the game - averaging anywhere from $45-50 million a year.

If he opts for surgery, that means he will be out at least 9 months, so forget about playing next year's season opener.

MANY QUESTIONS FOR REMAIN

If you're an MLB team, are you willing to throw down hundreds of millions of dollars - perhaps even half a billion dollars - for a two-way player that may not pitch like he once did?

There's a very real possibility that a ballclub may be signing Ohtani for just being a hitter. The fact that he has been injured multiple times this year might show that the human element of being a unicorn and doing things no player has ever done before on the playing field may have caught up to him. And I'm sorry, but despite Ohtani's popularity, there's no way him being just a hitter is drawing anywhere close to the massive amount of money that an otherwise healthy two-way player would receive.

Unfortunately, these are all legitimate questions and concerns that Ohtani and other team's owners are going to be asking in the coming weeks and months.

ANGELS ARE ALL BUT OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS

Meanwhile, Mike Trout has had one of his worst seasons, mainly due to battling injuries. He was placed on the IL again yesterday after returning from it for the first time since undergoing wrist surgery on July 5.

The fact that Mike Trout is the second biggest story surrounding the Angels shows just how bad things have gotten for the ballclub.

But for now, let's pour one out for Angels fans out there, who once thought they had it all, only to have the last memory of Shohei Ohtani be of him walking off a field not knowing he wouldn't be back in an Angels jersey again.