Angels Trading Ohtani?

Angels Trading Ohtani?

07 July, 2023

It appears like trading away superstar Shohei Ohtani isn’t completely out of the question as the Los Angeles Angels appear to be slipping away from AL West postseason contention & Mike Trout being on the injured list.

It’s a potential transaction that several MLB front offices are considering with the trade deadline of August 1 less than a month away, including most likely the Giants, who are seen by some to be a competitive contender for the two-way superstar.

The Angels are reportedly claiming “they will ‘know a lot more in the next two or three weeks’ regarding their plans” to trade Ohtani, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post on Thursday.

“Folks still have a hard time imagining owner Arte Moreno trading the game’s best current player, and maybe the best ever, even if he’s somehow convinced they have no chance to re-sign him,” Heyman wrote. “Even so, Angels people seem to be leaving open the slight possibility of an Ohtani blockbuster.”

In November, Perry Minasian, the general manager of the Angels, declared that Los Angeles will not deal Ohtani until the 2023 MLB season. Moreno was “dead-set against a trade” at the deadline last summer, according to Heyman. However, the Angels currently behind the AL’s second and third wild-card spots by 3 1/2 games and 6 1/2 games, respectively.

Since June 1, Los Angeles has gone 15–17, and the situation isn’t improving when their other superstar, Mike Trout, broke his hamate bone earlier this week. The Giants, meanwhile, are making a postseason push and are only 2 1/2 games back of first place in the NL West after going 19-12 over the same time period.

Ohtani has a 7-4 record so far in 2023, a 3.32 ERA, 132 strikeouts, and 31 home runs while also slashing.296/.383/.650 at the plate.

Ohtani is scheduled to become a free agency this winter, but the Giants have a strong mix of youngsters and veterans on their team this year, and they might use the pitching and batting titan in the closing weeks. Additionally, Ohtani’s brief stay in the Bay could make life easier for San Francisco once the free-agency bidding for him starts.

Thoughts of signing a superstar have recently plagued the Giants franchise and their supporters, which may just be wishful thinking.

But it’s worth going all out when a player with Ohtani’s skill could be on the market.