Passan on Shohei Ohtani Rumors: 'Hard Time Seeing' a Trade Even If Angels Collapse

One of the most fascinating subplots of the MLB season is the future of Shohei Ohtani.

The Los Angeles Angels (28-26) find themselves fourth in the AL West and 3.5 games out of the final wild-card position, having never made the postseason in the Japanese superstar's time with the organization.

With his free agency looming after the season, Ohtani could seek greener pastures. But ESPN's Jeff Passan doesn't expect the Angels to trade him despite the possibility of losing him in the fall, as he said on Monday's Get Up:

"Unless they absolutely collapse, and even if they do frankly absolutely collapse, I have a hard time seeing Ohtani moving at the deadline this year. Even though if he does leave Los Angeles in free agency, whether it's to go up to the Dodgers, or across the country to the New York Mets, to Seattle, San Francisco, New York, wherever it may be, if Ohtani goes and the Angels only get a third-round draft pick for him whereas they could've gotten a bounty at the trade deadline, it's going to be a bad, bad look for the Angels."

The 28-year-old Ohtani is the rarest of talents—a slugger at the plate and an ace on the mound. In him and Mike Trout, the Angels have two of the game's biggest stars. But the team hasn't reached the postseason since 2014 and hasn't won a playoff series since 2009.

Since that last playoff berth, Trout has won MVP honors twice and Ohtani has been the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP once. The stars have done their part. The rest of the organization hasn't.

And it may cause Ohtani to seek a new baseball home after the season. The Angels, however, appear prepared to take that risk.