Seeing how the Washington Nationals are flirting with trading Juan Soto and have been doing it for the last week, the Los Angeles Angels reportedly listened to trade offers and scenarios on dual-threat Shohei Ohtani.
The likelihood of the Angels making Ohtani available was never really high to begin with, but it didn’t hurt to know what other teams could offer.
In the end, Los Angeles made its final decision about the player: they are keeping him.
“The Angels will NOT be trading Shohei Ohtani at the deadline, per @JonHeyman @BRWalkoff. Yankees, Padres and White Sox were among the teams to make serious offers,” Bleacher Report tweeted on Monday.
The Angels will NOT be trading Shohei Ohtani at the deadline, per @JonHeyman ⚾️ @BRWalkoff
Yankees, Padres and White Sox were among the teams to make serious offers pic.twitter.com/kseYGZwtN8
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 1, 2022
Ohtani Will Stay In LA For Now
Ohtani, 28, has a season-and-a-half left of team control, so the Angels, who are 43-59 and with little hope of making the postseason, were under no obligation to trade him.
There are two scenarios in play at this point: he could return to finish out his Angels tenure after 2023, or the team could entertain trade offers again during the offseason.
Ohtani is looking at perhaps the most lucrative contract in MLB history sometime within the next year-and-a-half.
After winning the AL MVP unanimously last year, he is slashing .255/.352/.495 with 22 home runs and 11 stolen bases.
Oh, and he is also thriving as a pitcher, with a stellar 2.81 ERA in 99.1 innings.
He has an incredible 145 strikeouts already, and looks poised to top 200 for the first time in his career.
One of the most valuable players in MLB – probably the most valuable – Ohtani will be a very rich man soon.
For now, he will remain with the Angels and finish out the season.
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