As a star player in a contract year, it makes sense that there would be ample attention regarding whether Shohei Ohtani will be traded by the Aug. 1 deadline. The Los Angeles Angels, however, appear to have already made up their minds on that.
The Angels are expected to keep Ohtani even if they fall out of contention by the end of July, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. The team is still hoping it can get Ohtani to agree to a long-term contract extension, and the organization believes that trading him would eliminate any chance of that happening.
While much has been made about Ohtani’s potential exit in free agency, the Angels know that Ohtani has not publicly said the team has no chance of retaining him. Of course, reports indicate that the Angels must contend in order to have a chance at keeping him, which is quickly becoming an issue. While the team is by no means out of it, their 35-30 record is only good enough to keep them 6.5 games out in the AL West and 1.5 games out of the final AL wild-card spot.
Ohtani is putting up his typically strong numbers, with 17 home runs and a 3.32 ERA on the mound. He is already being linked to other teams in free agency, which probably is not a great sign for the Angels’ chances of retaining him either.
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