Mike Trout suffered an apparent injury after fouling off a pitch in Monday's Los Angeles Angels-San Diego Padres clash. After the swing, Trout displayed signs of pain in his hand/wrist area. The Angels immediately sent a trainer out and the superstar was ultimately removed from the game, via FOX Sports: MLB. The severity of Trout's injury may end up impacting the Angels' Shohei Ohtani trade plans as well.
As of this story's publication, it's unclear how serious Trout's injury is. Trout said he's “never” felt that kind of pain before following the game, which obviously isn't a good sign. MLB insider Buster Olney said Trout's injury “might be something that factors into” a potential Ohtani trade, per ESPN.
So that leads to the question of whether or not the Angels will trade Ohtani if Trout's injury forces him to miss a significant amount of time. Today, we will look at why the Halos must make an Ohtani deal if the Trout ailment is indeed severe.
Why Angels must trade Shohei Ohtani if Mike Trout's injury is serious
Players who are rentals, meaning they will hit free agency following the season, tend to see their trade value limited ahead of the deadline. Teams don't want to give away top-tier prospects/players for someone who could end up departing after just a few months. But this is Shohei Ohtani we are talking about. The situation is different because he's doing things never seen before on a baseball field.
Teams will be more willing to dish out top-tier prospect capital and even MLB talent to acquire Ohtani. He's a franchise-changing talent who is worth the risk for potential suitors. Additionally, acquiring Ohtani ahead of the 2023 MLB trade deadline would provide opportunities for teams to discuss a contract extension and maybe even keep Ohtani from hitting free agency at all.
So why would the Angels trade him despite playing a competitive brand of baseball in 2023? After all, winning could lead to Ohtani sticking around. Although Ohtani is expected to make somewhere in the range of $500-$600 million dollars with his next contract, Trout doesn't believe it's all about money for him. Nevertheless, if Trout is forced to miss a lot of time following this injury, the Angels' odds of winning would decline rapidly.
If the Halos miss the playoffs and keep Ohtani, Shohei is almost guaranteed to leave during the offseason. That would leave the Angels in a terrible spot, as they would lose the two-way phenom and receive almost nothing in return.
What if Trout's injury isn't severe?
Again, Trout's injury results haven't been released yet. If his injury ends up not being severe, the Angels' performance over the next two-three weeks will be crucial in determining whether or not they will trade Shohei Ohtani.
They are currently six games back in the AL West, placing them third in the division. They are also three games back of a Wild Card spot. If the Angels find themselves in a similar position near the trade deadline, they will need to ask themselves if keeping Ohtani is worth trying to scrape and claw for a third Wild Card spot.
But there is hope Angels fans.
If the Halos play better, Trout stays healthy, and they end up having a chance to earn a higher Wild Card spot or possibly even catch the Texas Rangers for the AL West division lead, they might as well hold onto Ohtani and make a run.
For now, everything hinges on Mike Trout's injury status.
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