'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Los Angeles Angels will miss the playoffs for the eighth year in a row. Despite being heralded as one of the prime contenders not just in the AL West, but in the entire league, October baseball will not return to Anaheim.
Trending
"The Los Angeles Angels will miss the playoffs for the eighth straight season." - @ ESPN
The Los Angeles Angels began the 2022 season with promise. For most of the early goings of the season, they were ahead of the Houston Astros, a team that has become their biggest rival. Now, hanging up their bats early, fans are beginning to ask what needs to change for this team to actually do something.
Los Angeles Angels miss the playoffs again, fans are at the end of their ropes
On paper, the Los Angeles Angels are one of the best teams in baseball. They feature two of the best players in the world - Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Although the two men are paid over $40 million combined, they once again have very little to show for it.
Ohtani and Trout have combined for 70 home runs and almost 200 RBIs this season, and fans are rightly calling out their combined failure to lead the team adequately.
The Los Angeles Angels were neck-in-neck with their divisional foe, the Houston Astros, until mid-May. However, it was then that a nasty 14-game losing skid occurred, leading to the firing of Joe Maddon, their then-manager.
The Angels saw their fortune slide further as another divisional rival, the Seattle Mariners, also began to heat up. Scott Servais' club went on a 14-game winning tear in early July that all but buried the Angels' hopes of a postseason berth.
For Mike Trout, the pain of this all-too-familiar defeat must carry an extra sting. Trout, who is under contract until 2031, has been with the Angels since 2011. Despite winning three MVP Awards as well as being a former Rookie of the Year Award winner, Trout has only appeared in one playoff series.
For fans of the Angels, their confusion has warped into anger. Many have taken to social media to call out the management and players on the Angels club.
As far as the next steps go, it is anybody's guess. Shohei Ohtani spoke very brashly about possibly being moved from Anaheim this year. With the young Japanese sensation's contract expiring next year, he may already be as good as gone.
