The Los Angeles Angels are projecting the direction and timing of the summer for their players, chief among them being the destination of Shohei Ohtani.

Unknown to the league, the two-way standout will undoubtedly receive a contract that is both fully valued and structured. There may be some incentive points in the contract because Ohtani won’t be able to pitch until 2025 when he recovers from recent elbow surgery.

In any case, he’s headed for his second MVP, and the possibility that he won’t be staying with the Angels adds to the respect for his abilities on the field. Ohtani has expressed his desire to win when questioned in the past.

The Angels’ lack of a franchise timetable presents a problem, but that won’t stop them from making a lot of noise in an attempt to retain Ohtani, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post:

According to insiders, both the Dodgers and the Angels will make a play. Although most people are discounting the current squad, Ohtani did have three incredible seasons there. The Angels may be the only major league team not to have acquired pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto because of their intense devotion to Ohtani.

If there isn’t a strategy in place to move the team toward a winning formula that is sustainable, Mike Trout may play a role in their chase of Ohtani. In the long run, they may decide to take their chances elsewhere.

What should Mike Trout’s Angels do in the event that Shohei Ohtani signs with another team?

A franchise can typically be constructed around a single generational talent who produces spectacular results once every ten years like Trout was the first to do. At the age of 19, it took him just two years to make it to the big leagues when the Angels selected him as the 25th overall choice in the first round.

Since then, he has grown to be a vital member of the club, but the front office has done a terrible job of developing the farm system, which would have given the team the opportunity to develop a plan for developing young, manageable players to round out the roster.

If the Angels’ trade of Trout is contingent upon anything, it is that the team receiving the player’s base salary of $35.45 million per season until he is 38 finds it prudent to take a chance on the 32-year-old.