Top 5 Shohei Ohtani Trade Partners

As we approach the August 1st MLB Trade deadline, trade rumours involving the two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani are swirling. Every single team in baseball would like to add him to their roster, but only a few teams will actually have what it takes to acquire him.

UPDATE:

The day after publishing this blog, the Angels announced that Shohei Ohtani is no longer on the trade market. This blog can now serve as a reminder of what could have been, and give you insight into where he could be headed in free agency!

Are the Angels Going to Trade Shohei Ohtani?

You may be asking yourself, “Is Shohei Ohtani going to get traded?” As of this point, the Angels playoff chances are looking bleak, though they’ve played decent baseball since the All-Star break. The Angels could very well go on a run in the next week and decide to be buyers, not sellers at the deadline. With Shohei’s free agency looming large in the offseason, this is the Angels last chance to cash in on their insanely high-value commodity. Either that or take one last stab at the playoffs.

Shohei Ohtani’s new contract will likely be groundbreaking $500-600 Million, so trade may be the only viable acquisition route for some teams.

With all that said, here is a look at the top 5 trade deadline suitors for Shohei Ohtani.

Cincinnati Reds

Did we lose you with this first pick? It is a wild idea, even to us. Still, we have to throw this out there because it is a very intriguing concept.

Consider the following:

The Cincinnati Reds are very much in contention of winning the extremely weak NL Central
They have an absolute wealth of young, talented position players to trade from
Shohei’s bat could more than fill any major league talent they have to dish out
Their starting pitching situation is absolutely atrocious
Adding Shohei to the top of the rotation along with a more economical starter would drastically improve that situation
The Reds are extremely unlikely to land Shohei Ohtani in free agency, so this might be their only shot

The Reds front office is (disgustingly) frugal, so parting with controllable young talent might not be very appealing to them. Still, you have to assume the ad, merch, and ticket revenue would easily cancel out the remaining money on Shohei Ohtani’s contract. It’s now or never!

Baltimore Orioles

In 2022, the Orioles shocked the world by making a legitimate run at the playoffs after having a 100-loss season just the year before. Now here we are in 2023, with the Orioles atop the American League East after the All-Star Break. The talent of their young core has arrived in full force, the back end of their bullpen is formidable, and break-out campaigns of starters Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish show promise in the rotation.

Enter Shohei Ohtani. The top 3 of the rotation is solidified heading into playoffs. The best hitter in the American League is your new 2 or 3-hole hitter. A strong lineup of hitters is now an absolute powerhouse. The fans that have been showing out to support the young studs grow exponentially to see the Sho(w). Japanese ad money pours in and management gets a taste of what it’s like to be more than a low-budget, small-market team. It’s electric.

The biggest problem is that according to a tweet from Buster Olney, the Orioles are planning on being “measured buyers” at the deadline. Still, there are reports that Baltimore is still inquiring about Shohei. The Orioles certainly have a farm system and talent pool that could land him, but it seems like ownership might be unlikely to put that all up for a half a year of Shohei.

Seattle Mariners

Seattle seems like an excellent fit for Shohei, even according to Ohtani himself, who admits that he’s spent a few off-seasons in the area and “loves Seattle”. There’s also this video of Sho “not saying no” to coming to the PNW.

The Robbie Ray-sized hole that has been left in their rotation may only be filled by someone as talented as the Japanese fireballer, at least when considering the other available arms on the market. The Mariners currently rank in the bottom 15 in most offensive categories, so the offense could certainly use a Shohei Ohtani-sized boost.

Seattle currently stands on the outside looking in at the playoffs, so management will probably be reluctant to drain the system on what could be a lost season. That said, there could be real value in wine and dining Ohtani prior to his impending free agent status. Even if Seattle doesn’t hook the big fish via trade, look for them to be deep in the Shohei waters in the off-season. The connection between Shohei and Seattle is undeniable. Mariners fans treat their Japanese legends like Gold, and Shohei could pick up where Ichiro left off.

Boston Red Sox

Masataka Yoshida may not be the biggest star from Japan landing in Beantown this season. When looking up and down the Red Sox roster, Shohei Ohtani makes an awful lot of sense. A number one starter and monster in the DH slot would be just what the doctor ordered for a Boston team that sits just outside a wildcard spot.

A move for Shohei would buy Chaim Bloom and company some much-needed goodwill with the Fenway Faithful; who have been calling for their heads after an abysmal start to their front office tenure. Of course, experts might tell you that Boston doesn’t even have enough talent to pry Shohei out of the Angels hands, but you never know…

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Shohei suitor that no fan (that doesn’t bleed blue) wants to see. Still, denying that this makes the most sense and is the most likely scenario, is lying to yourself.

As the Diamond Gems Baseball podcast mentioned pre-season, The Los Angeles Dodgers were quiet this offseason… too quiet. That kind of silence is very un-Dodgerlike. This can only leave a rational individual to believe that something massive is brewing near the Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers currently hold the top spot in the NL West, but not by a large margin. Bringing Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers would give the team a big-time jolt and help propel them to another NL West Championship. This would give the Dodgers a top-of-the-order featuring Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman. Pair that with a rotation that includes Clayton Kershaw, pitcher Shohei, and Julio Urias, and you’re looking at a legitimate World Series contender.

If there’s one thing the Dodgers are willing to do, it’s spend money. That makes them an obvious threat to acquire Ohtani in free agency, but that doesn’t mean they can’t land him via trade. The Dodgers have a wealth of young, major league-ready, controllable players available in guys like OF James Outman, SP Bobby Miller and INF Miguel Vargas. Even a talented, but injured, arm like Dustin May could help land Sho. If that’s not enough, the Dodgers Farm system ranks 4th in the big leagues.

Other Landing Spots and Shohei Ohtani Trade Rumours

These are our top 5 picks for Shohei Ohtani to land if the Angels decide to trade him. As we mentioned above, the “if” looms large. They could very well keep him and go down with the ship. These 5 teams are not the only ones actively inquiring about Shohei though, as the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Giants, Phillies, and others have also expressed interest.

Which team do you think will pull it off? Send us your answer on our socials!

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The 5 Best Trade Candidates for Shohei Ohtani