Angels News: Mike Trout Wants to Be Involved in Keeping Shohei Ohtani in Anaheim

He doesn't want to lose his superstar teammate.

Spring Training is officially underway and for some reason, there's a lot of focus on the Angels' camp this year. I'm trying to understand why that is.

Is it because Anthony Rendon is healthy? Is it because there's a battle for the starting infield and catcher spots? Or is it because Shohei Ohtani is entering his final year under team control before he enters unrestricted free agency?

It can probably be any one of those reasons, but for the sake of picking one, I'll go with the last one.

Yes, Shohei Ohtani will be an unrestricted free agent in a little over nine months from now. All the talk this offseason has been about him, and now that we're into next season, it's only going to get worse.

Of course, on the first day of Angels camp, Ohtani was the talk of the town, so much so that Mike Trout was answering questions about his superstar teammate. Here's what he said:

"I’m going to do whatever I can to keep Shohei here," Trout said. "We’re going to have to go out there and play. We’re going to go out there and try to win. I really haven’t talked to Shohei about his future, but it seems like he’s having a good time so far in spring."

Not exactly breaking news that Trout wants Ohtani to stay in Anaheim, but Angels fans should be very excited to see that Trout wants to help convince him in any way he can.

Trout has been as loyal as anyone, consistently sticking with the Halos despite one losing season after another. While it feels unlikely Ohtani remains in Anaheim for a myriad of reasons, maybe Trout has the best chance of convincing him to stay.