It’s Shohei Ohtani’s world and we’re just living in it.
That appears to hold true when it comes to the trade deadline as well.
With August 1 (at 6 p.m. ET) coming up in the days ahead, the moves have begun. The huge acquisitions, however, don’t look to involve the two-way superstar.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, Ohtani is “off the trade market.”
Verducci reports the Angels front office had fielded “various trade offers for Ohtani” and after holding internal conversations had decided on Wednesday to hold on to him. The brass also intends to be buyers and to vie for a playoff spot.
The Angels (52-49) are four games out of a Wild Card spot and sit in third place in the AL West division.
Back in March, Angels owner Arte Moreno spoke to Verducci saying on the record: “We will not trade Ohtani while we are contending for a playoff spot.”
For what it would take to trade Ohtani, well …
Moreno did say the team at the time did have around five true offers for Ohtani, but said it could take emptying a farm system or three major-leaguers to make a transaction take place.
Verducci also added in his Wednesday article that Angels general manager Perry Minasian will focus on adding a starting pitcher and a reliever prior to the deadline.
The ball is now in everyone’s court. It appeared many teams were waiting around to see what Ohtani would do before making any moves.
But … you never know. Is the best player in the history of the game truly off the market?
Buckle up, folks.
