Angels Insider Talks Halos Spiral, Shohei Ohtani's Future, and More

Angels talk paints a bleak picture for the Halos.

The Angels enter play on Saturday sitting at 45-47, 2 games under .500 and 8 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. The club has 4 wins in its last 18 games as the 2023 season has spiraled out of control with injuries and sloppy play speeding toward the trade deadline.

Around the league, the question has been getting louder and louder... will the Halos be sellers? Their biggest asset is, of course, superstar two-way player Shohei Ohtani -- the most coveted player in baseball. 

If the club decides to fire sale, Ohtani would fetch a king's ransom (and probably the kingdom) from just about any interested club. Angels' owner Arte Moreno has maintained that he'd prefer to hold on to Shohei. No one wants to be the guy that trades away possibly the greatest baseball player of all time. 

But, for a club in desperate need of a prospect haul to rebuild off of, it may make the most sense for the Angels and Arte to seriously consider moving on.

The state of the Angels and Ohtani's future was a topic of conversation between The Athletic's Sam Blum and DodgersNation.com's Doug McKain this week.

Blum takes issue with Angels ownership and relates it to previous Dodgers ownership, arguing that when you have someone like Arte Moreno, you're destined to lose someone like Shohei.

The full episode is worth a watch for sure.

After Friday's tough showing and Ohtani's visible frustration in the dugout, his days in Anaheim may be numbered.

The Ohtani era in Anaheim is coming to an end. Only question is will it be at the trade deadline or in free agency. Can’t let a once in a sport type player continue to miss the postseason.

https://t.co/2BaVtqq6pO

— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) July 15, 2023

Sam Blum is the Angels beat writer for The Athletic and a host on the "Calling All Halos" podcast.