Shohei Ohtani trade rumors: Where things stand days before trade deadline

The trade deadline is 48 hours away so where do things stand with Shohei Ohtani and the trade deadline? 

There have been plenty of trade rumors flying in Major League Baseball since the deadline is only 48 hours away on Tuesday at 6 PM E.T. One of the best trade targets for some teams is Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels entered Sunday with a record of 43-58, which is fourth-worst in the American League so they are nowhere near the playoff picture. With Ohtani, he is the reigning AL MVP and he’s well on his way to doing that this season as well. But he only has one year of team control left until free agency, meaning that Angels are, at bare minimum, listening to others teams to see what their offers are for him.

But that’s essentially all that is happening.

The Los Angeles Angels seem unlikely to trade Shohei Ohtani before the trade deadline

All reports indicate that the Angels are just listening to offers for Shohei Ohtani and see if any team blows them away. A few days ago, Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post indicated that and it is still the same today.

The sheer fact that Ohtani is an All-Star on both sides of the ball means that an acquiring team would have to give up a ton for him for two postseason runs.

This season, Ohtani is hitting .251/.346/.486 with an OPS+ of 133. He also has 22 home runs and 62 RBI in 98 games. He also leads the majors in intentional walks with 10. On the pitching side, he has been even better. In 17 starts on the mound, Ohtani has a 2.81 ERA with a 144 ERA+, a 2.37 FIP, a 1.017 WHIP, and an average of 2.1 walks and 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

Like with Juan Soto (who is much more likely to be traded), there are 29 teams that would love to have Ohtani on their team but not many will have e the prospects to get a deal done. One team that would be a great fit for Ohtani is the St. Louis Cardinals. They are one of the finalists for Soto but they desperately need some starting pitching help. After Albert Pujols retires after this season ends, Ohtani would also have a wide opening as their DH.