The most coveted player heading to the MLB trade deadline is coming off the market as the Los Angeles Angels won't be moving Shohei Ohtani, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci reports.
Not only do the Angels not intend on trading Ohtani but Verducci also reports that Los Angeles plans to be buyers ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline.
They started off by acquiring right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, in exchange for two minor league prospects.
The Angels are four games back of a wild-card spot and are looking to reach the post-season for the first time since 2014, the longest drought in MLB.
With Mike Trout expected to report back in mid-August from a broken hamate bone, the team wants to make one last push if this is the final season with Trout and Ohtani together.
Ohtani is a pending free agent setting himself up for a massive payday as he leads the American League with 36 home runs while hitting .299/.398/.668 in 99 games. In 19 starts this season, Ohtani has an 8-5 record with a 3.71 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 111.2 innings pitched.
It was reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan that the Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays were three of the most popular answers when he asked big-league executives where Ohtani could land if he's moved.
The risk for teams looking to acquire Ohtani is that the high price it would take to acquire Ohtani wouldn't come with any guarantee that he would re-sign.
“Makes no sense,” one executive told Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smth. “You’d have to completely empty your farm system and to do that you’d want to believe you could re-sign him.”
Another factor that would have gone against the Blue Jays is that their farm system has thinned out as players have graduated to the majors in recent years, meaning it would be tough for Toronto to assemble a package commensurate with Ohtani's historic talents unless they scrap the big-league team for parts. Plus, while the Blue Jays have spent aggressively in free agency under president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins, it hasn't been their style to go all-in with trades for pending free agents.
--With files from Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.