Shohei Ohtani: 3 realistic trade destinations for the reigning MVP

I recently discussed the Los Angeles Angels’ ability to extend Shohei Ohtani here, and it looks bleak for them. It is hard to tell the direction of the Angels as new ownership becomes likely, but the fact remains it is very likely they will have to trade Ohtani at some point. Whether it is in the offseason, or the midseason of 2023 remains unknown.

When Ohtani was selecting his first team in the MLB, it became apparent that he valued a team on the West Coast, due to its proximity to Japan. Per Jon Morosi, it also appeared he did not want to play on a team who had a past Japanese superstar. I would imagine those concerns have vanished, as he certainly has outshined anyone who came from Japan to MLB already.

I would imagine the trade partner for Ohtani would have to have the following four things:
1. Young MLB-ready talent: The Angels do not desire a full-scale rebuild.
2. Payroll flexibility: The team who trades for Ohtani will almost certainly want to extend him.
3. A desirable destination for Ohtani.
4. A contender: Ohtani mentioned struggling to stay motivated in another losing season and certainly wants to play for a contender after four wasted years with the Angels.

The Mariners are a glaring team that fits that mold, but there is absolutely no chance the Angels trade him to a division rival. Many have mentioned the Yankees in the past, as they do with every player, but I think the eventual Aaron Judge extension will take them out of the running. Not to mention, I don’t think the Yankees are a good fit anyway for assorted reasons. The Padres were my favorite to land Ohtani before the trade deadline, but the Soto deal almost assuredly puts them out of the running due to the payroll and farm system impact.

With all of that in mind, let’s look at teams who could potentially trade for Shohei Ohtani.

The Dodgers are another team that seem to be linked to every really good player nowadays. The awkward part is the bad blood that has simmered of late between the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani. Per the Los Angeles Times, a lot of Dodgers made sacrifices to be at the Ohtani Meeting, and it was a “waste of time”. The article seems to paint a picture that there wasn’t bad blood, but there certainly was and it was evident in their first matchups in Ohtani’s inaugural season. I’d imagine the Dodgers can put this behind them for Ohtani, but can Ohtani?

Payroll
Per Spotrac, between Trevor Bauer, David Price, and Craig Kimbrel, the Dodgers will drop off over $83 million from their payroll in the next two years. That gives them more than enough money to give Ohtani the massive extension that he is sure to get, while also allowing them to continue building a stronger team.

Young talent
The Dodgers never seem to have a shortage of young talent. Gavin Lux, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May are all potential trade pieces that would catch the Angels eyes. Per MLB.com, their top six prospects all have an ETA of this year or next year. The Dodgers could easily put together a package that would lure Ohtani and not lose a step whatsoever on the field.

Destination
Contrary to the Angels name, they are not located in Los Angeles, and speaking from experience, the difference between the lifestyle in Orange County and Los Angeles is night and day. It’s hard to get too much of a read on Ohtani’s personality due to his interviews being answered by his translator, but he appears to have an extremely laid-back personality. Would he like the idea of living and playing in one of the biggest cities in America? Only he can answer that question, but it may be the reason Ohtani doesn’t end up a Dodger.

Contender
The Dodgers are really good at baseball. They’d continue to be really good with Ohtani on their team.

The Mets are an entirely different team than 2017 when Shohei Ohtani chose his first team, but they did not even get a meeting with him. That aside, I can almost guarantee they will aggressively pursue him if and when the Angels decide they are listening to offers.

Payroll
This is easy to discuss. Mets owner Steve Cohen ranks as the 95th richest person in the world according to Forbes and is worth a whopping $17.4 billion. Since taking over ownership of the Mets, he has shown that he clearly does not care about luxury tax and will spend whatever it takes to field a legitimate team. Many owners hoped the new CBA would impose strict enough luxury tax penalties to dissuade this behavior, but 17.4 is a lot of billions. We don’t even need to look at the Mets payroll situation because Cohen will make it work.

Young talent
The Mets cannot offer as much as the Dodgers, but they do have some desirable trade pieces. Brett Baty got the call recently, and he would almost certainly be included in any trade package along with top prospect Francisco Alvarez. The Angels did just trade for Logan O’Hoppe from the Phillies, and he figures to be their catcher in the near future, but if you have the opportunity to land Alvarez, you should probably do that. Outside of those two, the Mets don’t have a ton to offer the Angels.

This is unlikely to happen, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Angels include Anthony Rendon and his awful contract and accept a much lesser trade package. I can’t see any team going for this, but if anyone was going to, it would be the Mets. Just some food for thought.

Destination
The same concerns of the big L.A. city obviously exist in New York. Whether or not Ohtani is willing to go to a big city remains to be seen, but they do also happen to have the deepest pockets. Also I have to reiterate, he appeared to prioritize the West Coast when he initially came to MLB. His priorities may have changes, but it is concerning.

Contender
The Mets are having a breakout season this year as they are currently leading the NL East and appear to have a team primed for an October run. With Ohtani, they could potentially become the best team in the National League.