MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani Trade Appears 'Increasingly Slim' amid Angels' Surge

With the MLB trade deadline just over a week away, the entire baseball world is closely monitoring the Shohei Ohtani situation in Los Angeles.

But as of Monday afternoon, it's looking "increasingly slim" that the two-way superstar is going to be moved, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

It was always unlikely that Angels' owner Arte Moreno was going to trade Ohtani, considering that the 28-year-old is in the middle of another MVP-caliber campaign. But the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported last week that it was at about a 25 percent chance that he'd get dealt.

Rosenthal reported that the Angels' recent run of success is one of the main reasons why they are more committed to keeping Ohtani than ever before. Since the All-Star break, they have gone 6-3 and are two games over .500.

They also have also closed the gap between themselves and a potential playoff berth. Los Angeles is now just four games out of an American League Wild Card slot.

General manager Perry Minasian said back in June that if the organization was still in playoff contention it'd be highly unlikely that Ohtani would be traded.

Rosenthal believes that even if the Angels falter over the next few days in the lead up to the deadline, Ohtani will remain in Anaheim with his impending free agency this offseason.

Pundits around the baseball community have been calling for Moreno and the team's front office to trade Ohtani for a huge haul of prospects and rebuild instead of potentially losing him for nothing as a free agent.

Ohtani, who may be looking to join a contender next year, could potentially receive a contract worth $600 million, the biggest deal in the history of the sport by a wide margin.

And with the Angels failing to build a championship-caliber squad around Ohtani and fellow superstar Mike Trout, Heyman has connected him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres as potential landing spots this winter.

Ohtani, arguably the greatest talent baseball has ever seen, is in the middle of another incredible campaign, leading MLB in homers with 36 to go along with batting .302/.398/.674 and a 1.072 OPS.

He also has an 8-5 record as a starting pitcher with a 3.71 ERA and 1.119 WHIP.