As Major League Baseball inches closer and closer to the dog days of summer, the talk surrounding the future of Shohei Ohtani is only going to continue to heat up. The Los Angeles Angels are currently in third place in the American League West and are on the outside looking in as far as a Wild Card spot is concerned.
With a little more than half of the season remaining, there’s still a lot of baseball left to play. But, the Angels will have a decision to make on Ohtani by the time the trade deadline rolls around, as the team seems unlikely to keep the two-way superstar beyond next season.
That begs the question: Are the Angels going to trade Ohtani?
Right now, the answer appears to be pretty obvious, especially when considering the team is right in the thick of the AL playoff race. So, while the bundle of prospects that the Angels would receive for Ohtani would be enticing, it looks as if they’re ready to push in all their chips to the middle of the table, further kicking that can down the road.
Still, with the trade deadline nearly a month away, those in the world of Major League Baseball have to draw intrigue somewhere. And that seems to include trade proposals that would send Ohtani elsewhere. Well, MLB Network’s Bo Porter, the former Houston Astros manager, cooked up a proposal of his own that has drawn quite a reaction on social media.
Porter is proposing that the Angels trade Ohtani, along with three other big leaguers—Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe and Chris Devenski—to the New York Mets in exchange for an insane trade package. In this proposed deal, Los Angeles would acquire Bretty Baty, Eduardo Escobar, Starling Marte and Tylor Megill, as well as Ronny Mauricio, Kevin Parada, Blade Tidwell and Dominic Hamel, who are all top prospects in the team’s farm system.
Needless to say, those in the world of Major League Baseball shared their thoughts on social media:
i’m not a mets fan but if the mets gave up this much major league and prospect capital for 2.5 months of Ohtani when they could just have him for money this winter, i’d be furious lol not to mention $115M left to pay Rendon who’s never on the field. yikes. https://t.co/Sh39e0XEKP
— Aaron (@AaronCornielle) June 23, 2023
This picture indicates that some drinking has indeed been going on. https://t.co/NO68dSPDX8
— D.J. Short (@djshort) June 23, 2023
I don't prospect hug, especially when it's a player like Ohtani involved. That said, it's still way too much for RENTAL on a Mets team with enormous ground to make up. Angels probably ask for more too but I say wait until the offseason. https://t.co/KMFbkACoMy
— Steven A. Cohen Advisor (@LoveMeSomeMets) June 23, 2023
This deal is making my head hurt, that’s a lot to give up and I don’t really want Rendon. To me the prudent choice is to wait for Ohtani to hit free agency. https://t.co/CxgGWMYUXH
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Amish Country Mets Fan (@AmishCountryMet) June 23, 2023
[John Frascella on Twitter]