Nevin: Shohei Ohtani 'Wants to Win' with Angels amid Yankees Trade Rumors

If the New York Yankees wanted to see Shohei Ohtani audition in person for a potential trade before the Aug. 1 deadline, he gave it to them in Monday's 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani hit a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to set up Michael Stefanic's walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning.

Speaking to reporters after his team's win, Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani's bat flip on the homer was an indication of how much he "wants to win here" in Los Angeles.

"Everything he does is calculated to be the best player in the world, for the purpose of winning," Nevin said. "Everything else that comes along with that is great, but he wants to win, in the worst way. This has been frustrating for him in these last two weeks, as it's been for everybody.

"But you can see it on him. He wants to win. He wants to win here."

As the Yankees continue to sputter without Aaron Judge, a lot of focus is being paid to general manager Brian Cashman and what he might do to upgrade the roster before the trade deadline.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported last week on Get Up there are "a small handful of teams" that could get involved in potential bidding for Ohtani, but the Yankees are considered "the most motivated" because their current core group with Judge, Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton are all over the age 30 and in win-now mode.

Of course, it doesn't matter what opposing teams want to do if the Angels opt not to trade Ohtani.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported over the weekend the Angels are "in a listening mode" for an Ohtani trade, but they will command "multiple top-100 type prospects" to even start a conversation with an opposing team.

It's become uncommon to see clubs trade multiple high-level prospects during the season for a player in their walk year.

When the Washington Nationals traded Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in August 2022, they got back three top-100 prospects. But Soto is under team control through the 2024 season.

Ohtani is certainly the most impactful individual player in MLB and could swing a playoff race because he's a middle-of-the-order hitter and frontline starting pitcher all in one.

The Yankees need both of those things if they want to have a chance to make the playoffs, let alone win a World Series. Their offense ranks 29th in batting average (.221), 28th in on-base percentage (.294) and 27th in slugging percentage (.372) in 35 games since Judge injured his toe on June 3.

Cole is the only starter in New York's rotation with an ERA under 4.30 in at least 10 starts. The Yankees' 50-45 record is the worst in the AL East and 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot.

The Angels have lost 16 of their last 23 games even after Monday's dramatic victory. They are 47-48 overall and 5.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the third wild card spot in the American League.

Ohtani is the frontrunner for AL MVP with a .306/.391/.677 slash line, 35 homers, 75 RBI and 11 stolen bases as a hitter and a 3.50 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 105.1 innings as a pitcher.