Shohei Ohtani Trade Rumors: Yankees Seen as 'Most Motivated' to Land Angels Star

The New York Yankees are seen as the "most motivated" team to trade for Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani, per ESPN's Buster Olney on Thursday's edition of Get Up!

"Well you start with the Yankees. The Yankees, the Yankees, the Yankees, the Rangers, the Rays, maybe a small handful of teams, but there's no doubt, talking with sources yesterday, they see the Yankees as potentially being the most motivated because Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, they're middle-aged players right in the prime of their careers. This is the Yankees' window to win now."

Despite the trade speculation, Angels owner Arte Moreno appears reticent to deal Ohtani, who is eligible for free agency this offseason.

"I just don't know how you replace a guy like that," Moreno told Jon Heyman of the New York Post in mid-June. "We want to win, and it's nice to have him in the lineup. For me, it's about the fans."

Ohtani has smacked an MLB-high 32 home runs with 71 RBI, and he also sports an MLB-best 1.050 OPS. On the pitcher's mound, Ohtani is 7-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 100.1 innings.

Despite his tremendous success, the Angels have floundered in recent weeks, going 4-13 (1-9 in last 10) to drop to 45-46.

The Angels will also be without superstar Mike Trout for the foreseeable future. Trout suffered a fracture of the hamate bone in his left hand after fouling back a pitch in a July 3 game against the San Diego Padres. He has a four-to-eight-week timeline from then until his return.

MLB's non-waiver trade deadline is August 1. At this moment, the Angels are five games behind the Houston Astros and New York Yankees for the final AL wild-card spot. Continued struggles in July could lead to heavier speculation about a trade, even if Moreno says that the team doesn't want to trade him.

Los Angeles ultimately risks losing Ohtani for nothing this offseason, and the team could also see him leave without a playoff appearance during his tenure to show for it.

If the Angels ultimately decide to make a move, then the Yankees are logical suitors, considering that they are fighting just to make the playoffs and could use another bat (and arm), especially with injuries (e.g., Aaron Judge) in the lineup and on the mound (e.g., Nestor Cortes).

However, Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch of MLB.com doesn't think the team would be a "legitimate factor" for Ohtani in free agency when asked about it by Matt Hladik of The Spun.

"I don't. Here's why: how many of those contract talents can you have? You said you really wanted Gerrit Cole, you got him. You really wanted Aaron Judge, you kept him. You really wanted to trade for Giancarlo Stanton, you traded for him. They've added so many of these huge contracts here that to add another one that's going to be $500-600 million, I just don't know where is the limit for this Yankee team.

"Hal Steinbrenner always talks about how for a long time you shouldn't have to have a $200 million payroll to win a World Series. Now, we've blown past that and he's now saying you shouldn't have to have $300 million payroll to win a World Series. Well, they're already banging on the door of that and they've got the second-highest payroll in the game."

It wouldn't be ideal to trade a haul of players for a half season of Ohtani only to see him leave in free agency, so perhaps the Yankees would be out of the mix.

Still, any competitive team would have to carry some level of interest for the greatest player of his generation. August 1 is the date to watch for now, but if he stays aboard the Angels, then this hot stove season will be fascinating to follow as teams make their pitches for the superstar.