It's officially time for the Angels to trade Shohei Ohtani

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.

Before you say it: Yes, I JUST wrote a couple of weeks ago that the Los Angeles Angels need to pay Shohei Ohtani all the money. A billion dollars, if necessary.

But things have changed, and fairly significantly.

Mike Trout is hurt. Anthony Rendon, although he’s struggling, also got hurt. The team got swept by the San Diego Padres and has lost seven of its last 10. Despite all that, they’re 3.5 games out of the Wild Card and 6.5 out of first in the AL West. Not insurmountable, but it could be better.

Here’s the thing: If we’re a Major League front office, we can’t think just about the second half of the season. We have to think beyond.

And beyond this year? The Angels could lose the free-agent-to-be and the best player in baseball for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It’s doubly gutting for LA — they would have Ohtani pitching like a Cy Young candidate and hitting like an MVP winner and they let him walk away.

Now, the trade deadline is fast approaching, but there’s not huge rush. They can wait and let the market really develop.

But it’s certain: If they don’t think they can re-sign him, there’s no reason to keep him. The return — even with teams that may consider him a rental, they could get a leg up on signing him — will be substantial.

The fanbase may be furious, but they’ll be angrier if he bolts and the Angels don’t get anything back.

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