State of affairs days before close of trading

The trade deadline is 48 hours away, so how about Shohei Ohtani and the trade deadline?

There have been plenty of trade rumors in Major League Baseball as the 6:00 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline is just 48 hours away. One of the best trading targets for some teams is Angels from Los Angeles Starting pitcher and batsman designated Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels started Sunday with a 43-58 record, which is the fourth-worst in the American League, so they’re nowhere near the playoff picture. With Ohtani, he’s the reigning AL MVP and he’s on track to do the same this season. But he only has a year of team control left, meaning Angels are at least listening to other teams to see what their offers are for him.

But that’s essentially all that happens.

Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani are unlikely to trade before the trading deadline

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

The mere fact that Ohtani is an all-star on both sides of the ball means a two-run postseason acquiring team would have to give up a lot for him.

This season, Ohtani is hitting .251/.346/.486 with an OPS+ of 133. He also has 22 homers and 62 RBI in 98 games. He also leads the majors in intentional walks at 10. He was even better on the pitching side. 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.

As with Juan Soto (who is far more likely to be traded), there are 29 teams that would love to have Ohtani on their team, but not many will have the prospect of completing a deal. A team that would be a good match for Ohtani is the St. Louis Cardinals. They’re one of the finalists for Soto, but they desperately need help getting started. With Albert Pujols retiring after the end of this season, Ohtani would also have a wide opening as her DH.