Shohei Ohtani’s long-term future with the Los Angeles Angels is currently up in the air. Ohtani is set to hit free agency after the ongoing 2023 season. He signed off on a six-year contract with the Angels in Dec. 2017.

USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale touched on Ohtani’s future with the Angels in his weekly “Nightengale's Notebook” column. Nightengale noted that Ohtani and his representatives “are expecting a $500-$550 million contract” in free agency.

Mike Trout holds the record for the largest contract ever signed in MLB history based on total value. He put pen to paper on a blockbuster 12-year, $426.5 million extension deal with the Angels in 2019.

Ohtani’s future in Anaheim has been a talking point for months, and he is expected to remain with the team for at least the remainder of the 2023 campaign. Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently noted that regardless of where the Angels “stand in the race,” they are “unlikely to trade” Ohtani this year.

From the Angels’ standpoint, they are at the least hopeful that Ohtani will decide to not leave the team in free agency. Angels general manager Perry Minasian said in February that the organization “would like nothing more than to see him here for a long, long time.”

Angels owner Arte Moreno would also like to see Ohtani stay put in Anaheim, but he did make clear last month that the one-time American League MVP Award winner “has to want to be here, too, it’s a two-way street.”

Ohtani has recorded a 2.54 ERA to go along with an OPS+ of 132 this season.