Shohei Ohtani may be traded, will “definitely” leave the Angels if Los Angeles struggles

A Shohei Ohtani deal isn’t out of the realm of possibility this season if the Los Angeles Angels fall out of playoff contention.

during his appearance on Thursday morning I wake upESPN MLB’s Jeff Basan spoke about Ohtani’s future with the Angels:

“There’s one number we need to look at when it comes to Shohei Ohtani’s future, and that’s the Los Angeles Angels record, because as long as the Angels are in contention, as long as the Angels have hope of getting a playoff spot, Shohei Ohtani probably won’t be traded at the deadline.” This year. But if the Angels get out of contention, if it’s more than it’s been in the last five years that he’s been there, he can be traded, and he’ll definitely leave.”

Ohtani, who has starred as a rookie pitcher and designated hitter since signing with the Angels in 2018, is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.

Over the past three seasons in particular, Ohtani has arguably been the most valuable player in baseball.

Named an All-Star in both 2021 and 2022, won the MLS Player of the Year award in 2021 and would have been a repeat winner last season had it not been for a historic season by New York Yankees quarterback Aaron Judge, who broke the record for the AL with 62 home runs.

During the 2021 MVP season, Ohtani hit . 257 and hit career highs with 46 home runs, 100 RBI, 103 runs scored and 26 stolen bases. He also had his best pitching season up to that point, going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 130.1 innings pitched.

Last season, Otani’s offensive numbers dropped slightly, but were still strong, as he hit . 273 with 34 homers, 95 RBI, 90 runs and 11 steals.

He also finished as a career-best fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting by virtue of going 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings pitched, all career marks.

Too many upsets for no one Ohtani got off to a hot start in 2023, hitting . 281 with four home runs and 11 RBI, while also going 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in four starts.

Despite Ohtani’s distinction over the years, the Angels never reached the playoffs during his MLB career. They too have had an uneven start to the season, going 9-9 out of the gate.

Aside from the Texas Rangers being 12-6, the AL West has largely struggled, so the Angels are second in the division despite only being . 500.

This suggested that they could be contenders to win the division if they picked up the pace, but a lack of starting quality off Otani and a lack of consistent hitting off Otani and Mike Trout kept Los Angeles from being in the last few runs. seasons.

If Ohtani makes it to free agency, there’s no doubt that many of MLB’s big-market teams will at least explore the possibility of signing him, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Yankees.

Because of a bidding war that is likely to occur, the Angels’ best chance of keeping Otani may be to play solid baseball and remain in contention such that he is willing to re-sign before becoming a free agent.

However, if the Angels go down the pace, they may have no choice but to trade one of their franchise faces, because losing him for nothing in free agency would be disastrous.