The Los Angeles Angels are doing all they can to insist two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani won’t go anywhere before the fall months, if at all.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post has reported that “one Angels person” told him there is a “zero percent chance” of Ohtani being sent elsewhere before this summer’s MLB trade deadline arrives.
Presumably, that person was responding to a Thursday report from ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan that said Ohtani could be traded if the Angels find themselves essentially out of the playoff race by the second half of July. Los Angeles began Friday morning at 9-10 on the season.
While Angels owner Arte Moreno was optimistic about holding onto Ohtani as of February, agent Nez Balelo later strongly suggested the 2021 American League Most Valuable Player will test free agency following this season. Angels slugger Mike Trout subsequently mentioned that the club ending a playoff drought that’s gone on since the start of the 2015 campaign may be its only chance of holding onto Ohtani beyond this year.
“Ultimately, it’s going to come down if we get to the playoffs,” Trout told Heyman this week. “That could put a thought in his mind — that could give us a shot.”
It’s widely thought the New York Yankees could attempt to acquire Ohtani this summer if only to have an advantage over the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets regarding negotiations with the sport’s most marketable player. There’s a belief that Ohtani is more open to playing home games in New York, either for the Yankees or the Mets, than he was five years ago.
“I’ve seen him at a couple All-Star games,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said of who he allegedly hopes will one day be his teammate. “I’ve never really mentioned it to him. I think he’s pretty happy in California. But you never know. Free agency is a wild thing. Anything can pop up. We’ll see.”
It’s unclear if the Yankees are willing to pay the more than $600M total that Ohtani reportedly could receive on the open market to land his services.
