Shohei Ohtani Trade a Painful but Obvious Choice for Angels amid MLB Rumors
The Los Angeles Angels roster arguably the most electric talent in all of baseball.
If they play their cards right, they won't roster that player past the upcoming MLB trade deadline.
It's a sad but true reality for the Angels, as they have fleeting hopes of both making a playoff run with two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this season and keeping the impending free agent beyond it. And yet, those dim dreams might be enough for Angels owner Arte Moreno to decline any Ohtani trade talks, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported.
L.A.'s hesitance is understandable in theory, as a player like Ohtani comes around—at most—once in a lifetime. In reality, though, the Angels won't be able to bring him back, so the time to trade him is now.
They Aren't Winning with Him
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This is Ohtani's sixth season in Los Angeles. He is still awaiting his first taste of the MLB playoffs.
In fact, they've yet to post a winning record during his tenure. While this year's club is clearly that threshold for now, they may not be high enough above it to matter.
The Angels (50-48) are third in the AL West. They are eight games back of the division-leading Texas Rangers and just a half-game up on the fourth-placed Seattle Mariners. The Angels are also four games out of the third (and final) wild card spot, and they'd have to leapfrog three teams to capture it.
In other words, Los Angeles really doesn't look any better than it has throughout Ohtani's career, even though this is the best he's ever played. FanGraphs gives the Angels less than a 14 percent chance of making the playoffs and less than a one percent chance of winning it all. This team simply isn't very good.
If They Don't Win, He Isn't Staying
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Angels fans, players and front office staffers can plead all they want, but Ohtani seems highly unlikely to stick around in free agency.
Back in April, ESPN's Jeff Passan opined Ohtani would "definitely leave" if the Angels weren't a contender this season. What could possibly convince the club that it can leap into that level by season's end?
This is a mediocre team by virtually every measure. Offensively, the Angels are a good-not-great 11th in batting average. The pitching staff sits a forgettable 21st in ERA. Add it all up, and you have a team that's 17t in winning percentage and 14th in run differential.
That's not good enough to justify keeping Ohtani. Not when he's likely to leave in free agency anyway, and certainly not when L.A. could get a mountain of assets for him right now.
The Return on an Ohtani Trade Would Be Enormous
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After this year's MLB draft, B/R's Joel Reuter ranked all 30 farm systems. The Angels landed 28th, or just two spots clear of last place.
Get an Ohtani deal done, though, and L.A. could rocket up the rankings with the type of prospects they could add.
While he is a rental, he's the most helpful rental ever on the market, since he can simultaneously boost a team's offense and its pitching staff. That alone could convince clubs to send some bonkers offers in the Angels' direction.
A package featuring multiple top-50 prospects could be on the table. A desperate club could even route three top-100 prospects to L.A. Major-league talent might be obtainable, too, if L.A. wants more than a dart throw.
As great as Ohtani is, the Angels can't keep him. The risk of him leaving in free agency is real, and the reward of an Ohtani trade should be spectacular.
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