Angels do not plan to trade Shohei Ohtani this offseason

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani appears to be staying put with the franchise for now.

Angels General Manager Perry Minasian told reporters on Monday that Ohtani will not be traded this offseason. Ohtani has one year left on his contract with the organization and there has been rampant speculation that the Angels would possibly deal the SP/DH if an agreement to an extension wasn’t reached. All of this comes on the heels of Ohtani commenting that he had a “negative impression” of how the Angels’ season ended.

The 2021 American League MVP continued his dominance as both a starting pitcher and a slugger throughout the 2022 season. On the mound, he posted a 15-9 record with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts. At the plate, he posted a .273 batting average with 34 home runs and 95 RBI. There’s a chance that he could pull in a second MVP award even with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge belting 62 home runs this year.

Despite the accolades of him and Mike Trout, the Angels still stumbled to a 73-89 record where they finished 33 games behind the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros. Whether in spring training or the trade deadline next summer, L.A. will be faced with the decision of whether or not to move forward with the generational talent as the cornerstone of their franchise.