As Shohei Ohtani puts together yet another potential American League MVP campaign, his future with the Angels has come into focus ahead of the MLB trade deadline. Whether or not Los Angeles—which sits eight games back in the AL West and four back in the Wild Card–will deal the two-way phenom is yet to be seen, but plenty of rumors about his future are already swirling as he is set to hit free agency this offseason.
Ohtani is poised to land a massive deal on the open market. For now, with the trade deadline looming, he is still focused on the task at hand with his current team, he said Friday night after an 8–5 win against the Pirates.
“That did not cross my mind at all,” Ohtani said of Friday potentially being his final home start with the Angels, per ESPN. “Obviously I’m part of the Angels at this moment. I feel like we’re in a decent spot to make a playoff run, so I just try not to really think about that.”
He added that he and the franchise have not started discussing plans for free agency.
“I’ve never really had a sit-down talk like that,” he said. “We’re in midseason, obviously, and I’m just trying to focus on the season and sort of block everything else out. Like I said earlier, I feel like we’re in a decent spot to make a playoff run, and that’s all I’m really focused on at the moment.”
On the mound, Ohtani is now 8–5 with a 3.71 ERA, with 148 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.12. He’s having perhaps his best season at the plate, hitting .305/.400/.676 with 35 home runs and 76 RBIs.
The MLB trade deadline takes place on Aug. 1.
