Shohei Ohtani once light-heartedly expressed his desire to sport Mike Trout's #27 jersey ahead of his MLB debut

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are teammates, which means they cannot wear the same number. That disappointed Ohtani when he first came over from Japan. The two-way superstar wanted to don the iconic number 27, but naturally, it was already taken.

Ohtani revealed this in a book detailing his rise. He said:

"I actually wanted number 27 but someone was wearing that number."

When he first signed with the Los Angeles Angels, the second step was to pick a jersey number. The legendary Japanese star wanted to wear Trout's number, but had to choose something else. He ended up selecting 17, 10 digits lower than his new teammates'.

The two have gone on to be perhaps the best set of teammates in Major League Baseball, although the Los Angeles Angels have had no real success in spite of that.

Trout is widely considered one of the best baseball players of all time. His uniform number was iconic to Ohtani, and that was five years ago. Ohtani, who is now being considered the most talented baseball player to ever live, is developing an iconic jersey number in his own right.

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Could Shohei Ohtani leave Mike Trout?

The only way Shohei Ohtani could wear the uniform number 27 is if he left the Angels. He's been rumored to have a lot of legitimate pursuants in free agency, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Chicago Cubs.

If any of those teams ends up wresting him away from the Angels, he could change numbers. He'd theoretically have the opportunity to wear 27, although some teams do have that number taken already.

Could Shohei Ohtani leave the Angels?

However, his 17 jersey number is growing popular, so it's unlikely that he'd change unless he wanted to honor Trout. Nevertheless, it is less likely that he leaves Los Angeles.

He likes playing and living there. There was speculation that the Angels would trade him and they did not. There's speculation he'll leave in free agency, but there's a good chance he does not do that, either.