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Angels News: Halos Insider Details Path to Potential Shohei Ohtani Trade This Season

Angels fans aren't going to like this one.
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In about nine months from now, Shohei Ohtani will be entering unrestricted free agency in what could turn out to be the greatest bidding war in MLB history. Agents around the game of baseball have predicted Ohtani will get a contract upwards of $500 million, and it's hard to blame them. He's two All-Stars in one, and deserves to be compensated for it.

Angels fans are hoping that Ohtani will be getting that contract with their team, but Arte Moreno's decision to not sell the team definitely makes that future a little more foggy. Angels fans had a lot of hope that a new owner would come in — one willing to spend a lot of money — and convince Ohtani to stay. But with Moreno now in charge for the foreseeable future, it's been reported that it's "far less likely" Ohtani remains in Anaheim after his contract expires.

If that's truly the case, the Angels may have to consider trading Ohtani this season. If they're not playing well through the first few months of the year, an Ohtani trade could be inevitable.

Someone familiar with the Angels' organization told SNY's Andy Martino what would need to happen for the Halos to trade Ohtani this season.

"A person familiar with the Angels organization predicted that the year would now play out this way for Ohtani: The Angels will hold him for a few months to see if they can remain in contention.

"If they fail to do so, general manager Perry Minasian would have to seek permission from an unpredictable owner to solicit offers for him prior to the trade deadline. If Moreno allows it, the ask will be extremely high."

The return for Ohtani would likely be unlike anything we've ever seen before. Even though he'd be entering unrestricted free agency in just a few months, the idea of getting the "advantage" of having Ohtani on your team ahead of free agency would be worth trading the farm.

There have already been four teams linked to Ohtani as potential trade candidates, and none have been discussed more than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Angels fans can hope that it doesn't come to this, but at the end of the day, getting something for Ohtani at the trade deadline would be much better than losing him for nothing a few months later.