This Mets-Angels blockbuster trade involving Shohei Ohtani is preposterous

Brace yourselves for one of the wildest trade proposals you’ve ever seen, because this hypothetical New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels swap involving Shohei Ohtani is a doozy.

The proposal comes courtesy of MLB Network analyst Bo Porter.

"[MLB Network] Bo Porter proposes one of the trades of all time that the Mets should make for Ohtani. Reception on the Mets sub has been … not positive. Would love to know what other fans think. by u/derpbynature in baseball"

MLB Network analyst proposes wild Shohei Ohtani trade between the Mets and Angels

So as you might be able to tell, there’s a quite a few moving parts involved in this trade scenario… 12 to be exact.

Where do we even begin? First of all, let’s establish the fact that Shohei Ohtani is unlikely to be moved at this summer’s trade deadline. So right off the bat, this proposal is essentially rendered moot.

But diving into the specific parameters of this trade scenario is what truly uncovers its ridiculousness. For example, why would the Mets replace emerging star third baseman Brett Baty with the oft-injured Anthony Rendon? Despite Steve Cohen’s willingness to take on bloated contracts, that’s just not an intelligent baseball decision. And then throwing Eduardo Escobar in the deal for Anaheim? He doesn’t exactly have… value at the moment.

Hunter Renfroe and Starling Marte? Wash. And while Chris Devenski has been a dependable reliever for the Angels, there’s no way they’d entertain moving him while having contention plans of their own. But certainly not to acquire the recently demoted Tylor Megill from the Mets in exchange.

The only part of this trade that makes any real sense is the inclusion of multiple top prospects from the Mets’ end, such as the talented but blocked Ronny Mauricio, who has been killing it in Triple-A in 2023. Kevin Parada, Blade Tidwell and Dominic Hamel are also top prospects in the Mets’ system, all with varying ceilings, but each with undeniable talent.

Even after packaging these young players together, though, their combined perceived value doesn’t even begin to constitute a fair offer for Ohtani, who is unequivocally the best baseball player on the planet. And the inclusion of other veteran players to attempt to “lessen” the trade cost (i.e. dumping Rendon’s hefty contract, swapping Marte and Escobar, etc.) just doesn’t make sense from a baseball standpoint. This is especially true given that both teams likely intend to compete for the playoffs this season.

Overall, this mammoth of a trade proposal from Bo Porter deserves nothing short of a D grade.

The only reason it doesn’t fail? It’s at least outside the box!