Shohei Ohtani Trade Rumors: Angels Unlikely to Deal Star Despite Recent Struggles

Despite losing 11 of their past 15 games, the Los Angeles Angels are likely to ride out the rest of this season with Shohei Ohtani.

Per MLB.com's Jon Paul Morosi, the three-time All-Star is unlikely to be moved prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline regardless of where the team is at in the standings.

Morosi noted even if the Angels' front office attempted to explore trade options involving Ohtani, getting sign off from ownership to execute a potential deal would be "another matter entirely."

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Thursday there are some people in the Angels organization who think the team is "leaving open the slight possibility" of trading the 2021 American League MVP.

While it's rare to see a player in the final year of his contract bring back a significant return if he's traded at midseason, Ohtani would almost certainly yield a large haul for the Angels if they did make him available. Any acquiring team would be getting a frontline starting pitcher and middle-of-the-order hitter to boost their odds for a potential playoff run.

The Angels have had a brutal week on the injury front. Mike Trout is expected to miss four to eight weeks after having surgery to repair a broken hamate bone suffered during Monday's game against the San Diego Padres.

Ohtani and Anthony Rendon left Tuesday's game against the Padres with injuries. Ohtani was dealing with a blister on his finger that might impact his next turn in the rotation, but he was in the lineup at DH on Wednesday.

Rendon fouled a pitch off his shin and was kept out of the lineup Wednesday. His X-rays came back negative and he hasn't been placed on the injured list at this point.

Even with their recent rough stretch, the Angels are only 3.5 games out of the final wild-card spot in the AL.

Ohtani is having another MVP-caliber season. He leads MLB with 31 homers, a .650 slugging percentage and 1.033 OPS as a hitter. He's also got a 3.32 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 100.1 innings over 17 starts as a pitcher.