Shohei Ohtani clears out locker at Los Angeles Angels' clubhouse as team makes conclusive announcement

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Angels have announced Shohei Ohtani has been placed on the injured list with his oblique injury. Ohtani’s season is over.

Leading up to the MLB trade deadline, there was legitimate smoke pointing to a potential Shohei Ohtani trade from the Los Angeles Angels. Yet, once the Angels picked up pace, getting on track to make the playoffs, those rumors quickly dissipated. Not to mention, the Angels never really wanted to trade their franchise icon anyway.

But now that we’re closing in on October, with the Angels 15 games back of the AL West division title and 13.5 games behind the third and final AL Wild Card spot entering play today, and just 14 games left to play, their postseason hopes have diminished entirely.

After the Angels’ latest loss, an 11-2 defeat to the Detroit Tigers, now the Angels could have even bigger concerns. According to Jeff Fletcher, Ohtani has cleared out all of his belongings from his locker located in the Angels’ clubhouse.

There is no exact word on why Ohtani has done this on September 15 when the Angels’ season doesn’t officially end until October 1. Then again, Ohtani is already playing through a torn UCL in his right elbow, one that could even require Tommy John surgery. It’s possible that with the Angels’ postseason plans no longer in play, the face of baseball decided it was best if he avoided any further injury this season.

Keep in mind Ohtani is set for unrestricted free agency this offseason, where any team willing to pay his asking price will likely express a great amount of interest in signing the generational talent. Chances are, even with the expectation of Ohtani taking at least a full year off from taking the mound while his pitching arm heals following his upcoming surgery this offseason, he’ll still have no shortage of record-breaking contract offers to decide from.