Angels News: Halos GM Hints Shohei Ohtani Will Stay Till End of The Season

It looks like the Halos won't be dealing their two-way superstar.

Coming into the season, the question of whether or not the Angels would trade two-way superstar and perennial MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani was at the top of a lot of baseball fans' minds -- and certainly Halos supporters.

The Angels could without question receive one of the biggest hauls in baseball history in exchange for the icon, and given that Ohtani's contract expires after this season and the Los Angeles didn't look on paper like a fully formed team that could contend for a playoff spot, the idea of dealing Ohtani didn't seem like that big of a stretch.

Well things have dramatically changed since March.

The Halos sit in the second Wild Card spot as of Tuesday evening with a 41-33 mark, have won 11 of their past 14 games, and definitely have the profile of a team that should be deep in contention for their first postseason games since 2014.

That shift led Angels general manager Perry Minasian to "all but guarantee" that Ohtani will remain with the team through the end of this season, per Sam Blum of The Athletic.

Perry Minasian all but guarantees that the Angels won’t trade Shohei Ohtani at the deadline, regardless of the next month.

Instead of saying yes or no, he said it was “self-explanatory” heavily implying there’s no chance of a trade.

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) June 20, 2023

It definitely makes sense for the team to keep a player like Ohtani in the fold.

He's leading the way for the team during their charge to a playoff spot, hitting .300 with an MLB leading 24 home runs and 58 RBI.

On the mound, he's still very much productive, logging a 3.29 ERA over his 14 starts and averaging just under six innings per appearance.

Given the fact that the team has been getting more healthy of late, the bullpen has been turning things around, and Mike Trout has been finding his rhythm, the Angels are clicking at the right time.

And if Ohtani can keep up his level of play, him and his team will be knocking on the door to their first October appearance in almost a decade.