Angels media preparing for the worst with Shohei Ohtani

If the Angels decide to shop Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline, at least the team’s media will have a nice group photo to remember the era.

In both anticipation and dread of the upcoming MLB trade deadline, the Los Angeles Angels’ beat reporters decided to take a group picture at the home stadium. It will certainly last longer than the Shohei Ohtani era.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth five: Will Shohei Ohtani get traded?

The Japanese phenom who’s set to enter free agency after the 2023 season is headlining the papers again. Like last July, the league’s interest in Ohtani remains robust — after all, franchises would be insane not to at least field a call for the greatest player in baseball right now.

Angels owner Arte Moreno appears to be publicly anti-trade when it comes to Ohtani, but fans and media alike are preparing for the realistic possibility Ohtani dons a different jersey in August.

On Sunday, Angels media gathered in Anaheim for a solemn group picture, marking potentially the last home game of Shohei Ohtani’s Angels career.

It’s a tad preemptive, but with the unpredictable craziness of trade deadlines, Angels reporters likely wanted to be safe rather than sorry. Fifty years from now, they will have living proof that they did, in fact, cover one of the best players this sport has ever seen.

Angels media buckles up for looming Shohei Ohtani trade

Sigh. If only the Angels had played better, there wouldn’t be all this midseason mayhem surrounding Ohtani’s imminent future.

Sitting third in the AL West, the Angels’ chances of making the playoffs decrease by the week, and as sad is it sounds, this has become the norm. The franchise haven’t contended in the playoffs in over a decade, and even with Ohtani’s masterclass of a season, the Angels appear doomed to repeat history.

Ohtani is literally doing it all for L.A. He couldn’t possibly do much more. In 2023, he leads the league in several batting categories (homers, slugging percentage, OPS) and has a 3.71 ERA. The rest of the Angels’ pitching rotation holds a combined 4.60 ERA.

The Angels’ playoff hopes will slightly increase when Mike Trout and a few others return to the lineup; however, by then Los Angeles may be too late. They’re on track to waste another year of Ohtani’s incomparable talent, which is partly why the ongoing trade rumors have gotten so much traction.

As Moreno and the Angels deliberate their options at the deadline, the team’s media can only smile through their teeth in preparation of what could be the most somber moment in franchise history. Say, “Cheese!”