Mike Trout is expected to miss at least a month after recently suffering a wrist injury. Shohei Ohtani, meanwhile, was already expected to be the subject of many trade rumors. Following Trout's injury, speculation immediately emerged that Ohtani would be more likely to be traded. After all, the Los Angeles Angels are currently hanging on by a thread and losing a player of Trout's status for a significant amount of time is detrimental to say the least. However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic isn't convinced that the two-way phenom will be dealt away despite Trout's injury.

The Angels' anticipated best chance of re-signing Ohtani is by winning. Yes, Shohei is going to get paid a jaw-dropping amount of money in free agency. However, he wants to win and people around the MLB world believe that desire outweighs the financial situation. Rosenthal makes the point that re-signing Ohtani would be much more feasible if the Angels hold onto him. Trading him would make it far less likely for the Angels to sign him back this offseason.

Finally, Rosenthal makes an interesting point about Angels owner Arte Moreno.

“Owner Arte Moreno almost certainly doesn’t want to be responsible for trading a player who is the best of our generation, and maybe the best of all-time.”

Shohei Ohtani trade?

Despite this report, Ohtani is going to be mentioned in trade rumors on a more consistent basis with Trout out of the lineup. It's something that seems inevitable at this point, regardless of what the Angels will tell the media. Teams are going to call Angels GM Perry Minasian with tempting trade offers.

We can speculate all we want. In all reality, the Angels' performance over the next few weeks will ultimately lead to the team's final Ohtani decision. If they find themselves staying afloat and playing well, then keeping Shohei will be their likely course of action.

If, however, the Halos fall out of contention, trading Shohei Ohtani will be a realistic possibility. The worst case scenario is for the Halos to hold onto Ohtani and miss the postseason. If that happens, it would be shocking to see him re-sign in Anaheim.