New Shohei Ohtani Trade Rumors Uncover Failed Blockbuster Talks Between Rays and Angels

The Tampa Bay Rays aren't known for taking big swings on the trade market, but they tried to go after the biggest fish in MLB before Arte Moreno stepped in to shut it down.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Rays and Los Angeles Angels engaged in trade talks for Shohei Ohtani leading up to the trade deadline in 2023 that would have seen Tampa send Junior Caminero and Carson Williams headline a package going back to Los Angeles.

Rosenthal noted the Rays were willing to include "lesser pieces" to fill out the package, but Angels owner Arte Moreno "decided against" going through with the deal despite the team being out of playoff contention and Ohtani set to hit free agency in the offseason.

The Angels reportedly listened to trade offers for Ohtani during both the 2022 and 2023 seasons as they floundered near the bottom of the AL West standings.

General manager Perry Minasian indicated after the 2022 trade deadline they were never close to a deal involving Ohtani, though he didn't offer specific details of any offers the Angels received:

"It's all subjective, right. Teams are going to call on great players. I'm not going to get into negotiations with anybody, but there are multiple players in that locker room that teams wanted and threw concepts at. And I do the same thing. I'll call a team on somebody that might not necessarily seem like they are available and throw out an idea. Nobody hangs up the phone. But with that being said, Shohei is here and we're excited about that."

It seemed like a foregone conclusion Ohtani was going to sign elsewhere once he got to free agency, making the 2023 trade deadline the absolute last opportunity for the Angels to recoup whatever value they could.

The fact that the Rays were not only a team that stepped up with an offer, but presented a very strong package for a rental player speaks volumes about how Ohtani is viewed.

At that point in time, Caminero had ascended to being a top-20 prospect and Williams was a consensus top-100 prospect.

The Rays were on their way to a 99-win regular season, though it wasn't good enough to win the AL East because the Baltimore Orioles won 101 games. They were swept in the wild-card round by the Texas Rangers, scoring one run in 18 innings.

Ohtani wouldn't have helped Tampa's pitching staff during the stretch run because he would suffer a UCL tear in his elbow in August, but his bat could have provided a huge boost.

The trade also would have given the Angels something they really haven't had a lot of since Ohtani debuted in 2018: High-level prospects.

Caminero, who made his MLB debut for the Rays late in the 2023 season, made the All-Star team and finished ninth in AL MVP voting in 2025 after hitting 45 homers. The 22-year-old is currently hitting .268/.357/.508 this season.

Williams has not yet panned out in the big leagues. He owns a .161/.206/.315 slash line in 41 career games, but he's only 22 and was still a top-100 prospect coming into 2026.

Instead, the Angels held on to Ohtani en route to a 73-89 record in 2023. They lost at least 89 games in each of the first three seasons after he left to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers and currently own the worst record in MLB this season (17-33).

B/R's Joel Reuter ranked the Angels as having the fourth-worst farm system in MLB entering 2026, with Tyler Bremner their only top-100 prospect.

This non-deal is a perfect encapsulation of why the Angels have been mired in nearly two decades of being largely non-competitive, despite having arguably the two best players of this era on their roster together at one point in Ohtani and Mike Trout.