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REPORT: Angels take Shohei Ohtani off trade market as deadline nears

Nick Profile Picby: Nick Geddes07/27/23NickGeddesNews
Shohei Ohtani
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Shohei Ohtani will reportedly remain with the Los Angeles Angels for the remainder of the 2023 season.

After fielding trade offers for the two-way superstar ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the Angels have taken Ohtani off the market, per Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. The Angels, 52-49 and 4.0 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final AL Wild Card spot, have instead decided to be buyers at the trade deadline. Los Angeles last reached the postseason in 2014 — the longest current playoff drought in MLB alongside the Detroit Tigers.

Ohtani, a free agent at season’s end, suddenly became available during the month of July with the Angels dropping to 46-48 at one point and seeing star outfielder Mike Trout hit the 10-day injured list with a bone fracture in his wrist. Los Angeles, however, has turned the tide of late, winning seven of their last 10 games to get back over .500 on the season.

Ohtani, who made his third consecutive All-Star Game appearance earlier this month, is the frontrunner to win his second AL MVP Award. The 29-year-old is slashing .299/.398/.668 to go along with an MLB-leading 36 home runs and 77 RBI. Ohtani also paces the AL with seven triples and 62 walks. On the mound, Ohtani is 8-5 with a 3.71 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 111.2 innings pitched (19 starts).

Shohei Ohtani scheduled to start for Angels ahead of trade deadline

Ohtani will make his 20th start in Game 1 of the Thursday doubleheader against the Tigers. Angels manager Phil Nevin previously scheduled Ohtani to start Friday’s game against the Blue Jays before a Wednesday rainout changed his plans.

“The first reaction is it’s the Blue Jays and we want you to pitch against Toronto, but all these games are important,” Nevin said, via ESPN. “We need the best Shohei Ohtani we can get and we just felt this was it.

“Sitting down with him, he knows his body better than anybody. Takes better care of himself than anybody. Just walking through it, we felt like he would be the freshest to pitch [Thursday’s] game vs. Friday’s game.”