By Sang-Cheol Lee = Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) has addressed the trade rumours surrounding him. He said he would rather stay with the Angels and continue the fight for a postseason berth than move to another team.
Ohtani fielded a barrage of trade questions from local reporters after the Angels’ 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California, USA, on 22 June.
The Major League Baseball trade deadline is 2 August. The Angels are facing the prospect of selling one of the game’s top “superstars” as they are unable to secure a long-term deal with Ohtani, who is eligible for free agency after this season.
Ohtani has been one of the best performers in the majors since entering the game in 2018, but the Angels have not made the postseason in that time.
There’s a chance we won’t see him in the postseason again this year. The Angels beat Pittsburgh 8-5 on Sunday for their fourth straight win, their 50th of the season, but the road to autumn baseball is a long one, with the Angels trailing by 4.5 games in the American League wild-card race.
“This is my sixth season with the Angels,” said Ohtani. “I’m in my sixth season with the Angels, and my desire to be in the playoffs with this team and win at the end hasn’t changed,” he said. “I don’t know what the team will decide, it’s out of my hands. I’m not worried about the trade and I’m focused on doing what I can to help the team win.”카지노
As for re-signing with the Angels, he said, “I’m not in that position yet. Right now, we’re in the middle of the season and we have to focus on that. The team is in a good place right now and we need to keep it going.”
Ohtani also said he hasn’t heard anything from the club about a no-trade policy. “I don’t see the general manager in the clubhouse right now. We meet once a week or so, but we haven’t talked about it (the no-trade policy),” he said.
Ohtani, meanwhile, won his eighth game of the season, but struggled in the game, allowing five runs on six hits (four homers) and one walk in 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts. He gave up back-to-back homers to Ji-Man Choi and Henry Davis in the fourth before giving up another to Zack Suwinski in the fifth and Davis in the sixth. The four homers tied Ohtani’s major league record for a single game.
“My fingers, nails, etc. were fine, but the results weren’t good, and I think (the four homers) were hit hard,” Ohtani said.