Shohei Ohtani won't be traded, Perry Minasian and the Angels must act accordingly

The Los Angeles Angels have officially made official what we all suspected from the moment this season began. Perry MInasian didn't officially utter the words, but it's safe to imply that Ohtani isn't going anywhere.

Minasian said that it's pretty self-explanatory what the Angels plan on doing with Ohtani considering the team sits at 41-34 and in the possession of a Wild Card spot.

Now that MInasian has made it clear that barring an epic collapse Ohtani is not going anywhere, it's time for himself and the Angels organization to act accordingly and justify the decision.

LA Angels must go all in now that they're keeping Shohei Ohtani

To me, the Angels have had two avenues to pursue with their team this season. They can either do whatever it takes to win with Shohei Ohtani or they can trade Ohtani and get a monster haul back to try and kickstart a retool.

A couple of weeks ago it felt like both options were on the table but after this team has played their best baseball of the season to leapfrog the struggling Astros and show that they can compete with the first place Rangers, the direction appeared to be much clearer.

With Ohtani staying, the Angels must do whatever it takes to win in what could be Ohtani's last season as an Angel. I'm talking about seriously upgrading what's still a flawed roster in pursuit of a championship.

While they should not be trading guys like Zach Neto or Logan O'Hoppe, prospects like Edgar Quero or Ky Bush should be available for pieces that can really help this team win. Prospect hugging when your team is on the brink of potentially doing something special serves no purpose.

Arte Moreno is another person who must be willing to go all in. We haven't seen it from Moreno much in his tenure with the Angels, but going over the tax to bring in elite talent is a must. The penalties for doing so in one season are not harsh at all, and if you're all about winning like you say you are, you do what it takes to win while Ohtani is guaranteed to be here.

The Angels have picked their direction, now it's time for them to go all in on it. If you go down, go down swinging. If you actually try to do whatever it takes to win right now, fans will be much more understanding.

The one thing the Angels cannot do here is keep Ohtani for the deadline and do basically nothing. This team needs more than just one reliever, they need a whole bunch of players to help them win.

Losing Ohtani for nothing more than a compensatory pick would be a lot easier to take if we knew the Angels did whatever they could to win in his final year with the team. I'm not saying Ohtani is surely gone, but the Angels must put their best foot forward now that they have a direction.