Shohei Ohtani: Are the Los Angeles Dodgers the front-runners?

All eyes have been fixated on the unicorn of baseball, Shohei Ohtani, and his impending free agency at the end of this year. Rumors have been swirling left and right about where Ohtani will end up, and how much he will get paid. Said rumors have pointed to his contract being in the ballpark of $500 million over 10 years, and the teams involved figure to be plentiful, assuming he hits free agency.

Freddie Freeman excluded, the Dodgers have shown in recent memory that they prefer to acquire talent via trade, rather than engaging in bidding wars on the open market. They traded for Mookie Betts and were able to negotiate a mega-deal with him. They traded for Trea Turner and, while I am sure they attempted to extend him, he seemed to prefer playing on the East Coast the entire time.

It’s a great strategy, seeing that bidding wars often wind up with overpaying for players. It has also obviously worked out for the Dodgers. Given the contracts handed out this year, Betts’ contract is beginning to look like a bargain.

Also of note, the Dodgers have slowed on the spending this offseason, letting Trea Turner and Justin Turner walk, while only bringing in JD Martinez and Noah Syndergaard among other uninspiring players.

It’s almost like the Los Angeles Dodgers are preparing for something … or someone like Shohei Ohtani

However, none of this is relevant if the Angels don’t trade Ohtani, and the only way that happens is if the Angels fall out of contention. With Angels owner Arte Moreno back in the fold, it became increasingly likely that Ohtani would leave town, as Moreno hasn’t been able to put together a winning team since 2014.

If the Angels were to fall out of contention, the Dodgers make a lot of sense as trade partners, despite being rivals separated by a freeway. The Dodgers never cease to have an amazing farm system to trade from, they are in the National League, and they have made trades together before. They made a swap of Andrew Heaney and Howie Kendrick in 2014, and they even had a near deal involving Joc Pederson and Luis Rengifo in 2020 that fell apart.

The Dodgers will undoubtedly be the first team to call the Angels should they decide to shop Ohtani, and it seems incredibly likely that the Angels would answer.

Another factor involved in the Dodgers trading for Ohtani would be his likelihood to receive an extension from them. Although it apparently went famously horrible, Ohtani did take a meeting with the Dodgers when initially coming to MLB. It shows a willingness on Ohtani’s part to be a part of their organization, even if he had already made his mind up on the Angels.

Ohtani has also made it abundantly clear that he wants to play in October. There are very few teams that give him a better chance to feature his talents in October every year than the Dodgers, especially with Freeman and Betts joining him. Lastly, he wouldn’t have to move far, making it an easier transition for him.

The Dodgers have even more reason to root against the Angels this year. It could land them MLB’s unicorn for the foreseeable future.