Can the Los Angeles Angels be trusted to make a good decision about Shohei Ohtani's future? Here's the latest on the trade rumors.
The Los Angeles Angels would be psychotic to trade the best player in baseball — or would they?
Halfway through the MLB season, the Angels are looking less and less like serious playoff contenders and more like a team about to make the most insane decision at the August 1 trade deadline.
Ohtani has been rumored to be traded to a plethora of teams as pundits believe the Angels may want to try to get a massive haul for the superstar. L.A. may assume Ohtani will leave in free agency at the end of the 2023 season, so it's better to get something rather than nothing for his talent.
But there is a somewhat obvious reason as to why Angels owner Arte Moreno won't trade him. USA Today's Bob Nightengale tried to get into Moreno's head and weigh the pros and cons of shopping Ohtani this year.
The main detractor, per Nightengale, is the franchise-wide financial and cultural impact Ohtani's potential trade would make, a far-reaching rippling effect like no other.
Forget Ohtani's talent on the field, he also makes the Angels plenty of dough. The Angels earn about $20 million annually, excluding ticket sales, from Ohtani.
Do you really think Moreno wants to flush away that payday, not to mention the tickets he'll sell if Ohtani is bidding to break Aaron Judge's American League home-run record in September? If Ohtani is traded, their 33,535-average attendance could decline by at least 10,000 a game, season-ticket holders may burn their renewals and the franchise value will instantly plummet.
Angels may lean toward keeping Shohei Ohtani at trade deadline
As with any superstar, Ohtani makes his franchise a boatload of money.
If the Angels were to send Ohtani away, not only would Moreno have to deal with raging Angels fans screaming for his head, but the franchise's total value and revenue would plummet. Players like Ohtani and Mike Trout drive an inspiring, empowering culture for the Angels that may be worth than any haul of prospects because Moreno and the Angels know that at the end of the day, no hyped-up bundle of young talent can replace Ohtani's seismic effect.
With those sentiments in mind, Nightengale predicts that Ohtani stays in Los Angeles until the end of this season. L.A. are expected to see several stars (Trout, Brandon Drury, Logan O'Hoppe) return next month and will continue their fight to stay relevant and clinch a playoff spot.
Put yourself in Arte Moreno's shoes. Would you trade Shohei Ohtani for a lifetime of vitriol from the Angels fanbase, for pundits to constantly refer to "that questionable Ohtani trade" for the rest of your days in the MLB? Moreno's just trying to be on the right side of history, and that looks like holding onto Ohtani rather than giving him up.