Reasons for Angels' Shohei Ohtani decision revealed

There's more information about why Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno decided to hold onto two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani through this coming Tuesday's trade deadline. 

"Sources have said Ohtani would prefer to stay with the Angels for the stretch run and that Moreno would have no shot to bring him back as a free agent if he were to trade Ohtani to another team," ESPN's Alden Gonzalez explained. 

There's plenty to unpack there. 

The injury-plagued Angels (52-49) probably are still multiple weeks away from getting both Mike Trout (broken bone in his left hand) and Anthony Rendon (deep bone bruise in his shin) back but nevertheless became buyers by acquiring starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez late Wednesday night. Los Angeles entered Thursday's MLB action four games back in the race for a wild-card spot but had won seven of 10 games coming off the All-Star break at that time. 

Some would suggest that the Angels even winning this year's World Series, which seems unlikely as of the final days of July, is not worth losing Ohtani to free agency considering a plethora of insiders have hinted since this past winter that Moreno won't give the 29-year-old up to $600M total that it could take to win the upcoming bidding war. The big-spending New York Mets are expected to at least take a flier on signing Ohtani, and some assume he's essentially already decided to join the Los Angeles Dodgers following the campaign. 

While it shouldn't be ignored that Moreno keeping Ohtani through the Angels' last game of the season is a wise short-term business decision due to the revenue the sport's most marketable star generates for the club, Gonzalez's update indicates the owner thinks there is at least a chance the to-be two-time American League Most Valuable Player will seriously consider dedicating his future to the only MLB home he's had since Opening Day 2018. 

The fact Ohtani wasn't interested in ring-chasing by pushing for a trade to a first-place team this summer shows he's content where he is, for now. Logic suggests he could hold onto such feelings beyond this fall if the Angels enjoy an October to remember, and that hope, alone, is worth Moreno not landing a haul of prospects for baseball's unicorn before the end of Aug. 1.