Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is focusing on the present with his future very much a question mark heading into Tuesday's MLB trade deadline.
Ohtani might be available after Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the Angels are open to trade offers for the reigning American League MVP.
The freefalling Angels (42-57) are a distant fourth in the AL West — and 11 games back of a wild-card spot — with an MLB-worst record of 15-34 since June 1. That includes Thursday night's 2-0 loss to the Texas Rangers where Ohtani fanned 11 batters for his sixth consecutive start with double-digit strikeouts.
Ohtani was asked by reporters after the game, via interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, if he still wanted to be with Los Angeles after the trade deadline.
"Regardless of where I’m playing, I’m going to give it my all and try to win that ballgame in front of me," Ohtani said. "I’m with the Angels right now, and I’m very thankful for what they’ve done. I love my team and my teammates. Right now I’m an Angel, and that’s all I can focus on."
The 28-year-old Ohtani has a .254/.349/.486 slash line with 21 home runs and 59 RBIs while also sporting a 9-6 record, 2.81 ERA and 145 strikeouts on the mound.
Ohtani is in the final season of a two-year deal that pays him $8.5 million for the 2022 campaign and he will be eligible for salary arbitration this winter.
Things have gone south for the Angels since leading their division in May. While in the midst of a 13-game losing streak on June 8 — and a day after firing manager Joe Maddon — the Angels attempted to mix things up to snap out of the funk by having their players change their walk-up songs to Nickelback tunes. It didn't work. The Angels lost 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox, and their skid reached a franchise-record 14 games.
More bad news came Wednesday when it was revealed that three-time AL MVP and franchise cornerstone Mike Trout is suffering from a “rare” spinal condition that could affect him through the remainder of his career.
Although the Angels are listening to offers for Ohtani, Heyman and Sherman wrote that two executives who were interested rated the likelihood of a trade as “very slim” and “almost zero" given the asking price with another executive adding: "They want something like your top four prospects."
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