So, Shohei Ohtani, where will you be playing next season?

 SEATTLE

Here at the Midsummer Classic, it’s all about the $500 Million Question. Where is Shohei Ohtani signing this offseason?

First, there is the Aug. 1 trade deadline, of course. And with his Angels sinking fast in the wake of Mike Trout’s wrist injury, Ohtani’s goal of playing in the postseason is quickly disappearing.

Does that mean the sport’s biggest star, a perennial threat to win both the MVP and Cy Young Award, is going to be dealt during the next three weeks? Nobody but Angels owner Arte Moreno knows for sure.

Despite the possibility of a massive return, Moreno reportedly has shown little inclination to choose that route. If the Angels trade Ohtani, the thinking goes, then Moreno loses his greatest marketing attraction for two months and potentially burns the chance to re-sign him in free agency.

Ohtani has always been bigger than baseball itself, a two-way force of nature with his own gravitational pull, and never is that more apparent than when he shows up at an All-Star Game.

On the workout day, MLB lines the warning track with players at their own booths. Based on the rotating media crowd surrounding Ohtani, easily five rows deep at a time, he should have used the Seahawks’ stadium next door.

The line of questioning was predictable, mostly focusing on his next team rather the All-Star Game. And as anticipated, Ohtani was polite in revealing almost nothing about his preferred destinations.

But when I asked him about prioritizing a winner, he was unflinching in that regard.

“Those feelings get stronger year by year,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “It [stinks] to lose. I want to win.”

Winning gets considerably easier for the team that trades for Ohtani, or forks over what surely will be a record sum once he hits free agency after the season.

Ohtani basically has his second AL MVP trophy locked up; he’s leading the majors with 32 homers and a 1.050 OPS to go with a 3.32 ERA and 11.8 K/9 ratio in 17 starts (7-4). Given his supernatural ability, it’s daunting for any general manager or owner to estimate a price tag on him, whether it’s a trade package or contract.

“Obviously all the trade stuff, I have no control over it, so I try not to think about it,” Ohtani said. “I focus on the game that day. That’s the hardest part. Trying to win games every day.”

Forget coming up with the money or prospects. Even finding the adequate words to describe Ohtani is nearly impossible.

“Everybody would love to have him on their roster,” AL manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s the most incredible athlete I’ve ever seen in baseball. I’ve seen some great players, but I mean none that can both run like the wind, throw a hundred miles an hour and hit as well as anybody in the game.”

The Mets figure to be among Ohtani’s most aggressive suitors but have more of a realistic chance in free agency, given the bottomless pockets of their mega-billionaire owner, Steve Cohen. While money certainly won’t be an issue, there are other looming hurdles, namely Ohtani’s apparent preference to play on the West Coast and a possible aversion to treading on Kodai Senga’s turf in Flushing. Japanese players sometimes are wary of infringing on each other’s teams, out of respect, and Senga is the elder of the two at 30, nearly 1 1⁄2 years older.

That said, Senga put on his best recruiting effort during Monday’s media session, noting that the two played on Japan’s WBC team together in the past (though not this spring) and have talked here in Seattle.

As for his desire to have Ohtani on the Mets, Senga said it would be fun to play with him again. At one point, he smiled and added through his interpreter, “I’m going to put this hat on him right now.”

We’ll consider that an open invitation on Senga’s part. How much that would factor into Ohtani’s decision-making remains unclear.

If he truly prefers SoCal, the Dodgers would be an obvious favorite as a yearly playoff contender. They also seem to be building a Shohei war chest. Despite the Dodgers’ $245 million payroll for this season, they have only a paltry $82 million in salaries committed to 2024. That leaves plenty of room to break the bank for Ohtani and satisfy his need for a winning franchise.

Despite their first-half train wreck, the Mets offer him that opportunity. Presumably, the Yankees do, too, but Ohtani already turned them down when he first came to the States in 2018.

Trying to figure out where Ohtani will wind up next is becoming the true national pastime, with a more lasting impact than a July exhibition. He has the power to alter the course of a franchise’s future for those willing to make history to get him on board.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.