The Shohei Ohtani Trade That Almost Changed MLB

追加: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Shohei Ohtani, Ken Rosenthal wrote, a Tampa Bay Ray, the proposed 2023 deadline deal that would have shocked baseball.

[00:00:07]Do the wait Rays always seem like they swing big guys and miss? Uh remember they tried to sign Freddie Freeman, they they've thrown some big offers out there to guys for shorter terms, it hasn't worked out. But can you imagine the difference if Shohei Ohtani became a Tampa Bay Ray?

[00:00:23]Yeah, I mean it would it would have probably changed the way a lot of maybe free agents view going to Tampa. I I don't know if they would have had an opportunity to keep him there long-term.

[00:00:33]You know, if he would have got traded in '23 and kind of finished out his time there, but uh you you think about two-way players and for some reason Tampa just seems like the place where two play two-way players would really play. I know they tried it with the kid they drafted a couple years ago, but you know, I I'm not surprised that the Angels didn't trade him just knowing everything I know about the Angels and and the way that Arte operates, but you you think about potentially what they could have gotten back and it's right here on the screen what they could have gotten back for Shohei for for a couple of months trading him away and you know, if you if you're not going to go [clears throat] into that off season and pretty much give Shohei a blank check and say whatever you want, whatever terms you want in order to bring him back, then you did that organization a disservice by not trading away for the last couple of months cuz the Angels weren't going to the postseason and you potentially had an opportunity to get, you know, a player that you know, really kind of changes the trajectory of your your franchise and they probably could have got more than that. I I think you know, being there and being around guys, I think it was even rumored to be more from Tampa and I know there were some other offers from some other teams out there that would have dramatically changed the depth of players that the Angels had in their organization.

[00:01:52]Yeah, I mean obviously the anybody that is brought up in a rumor, you sit there and you go, "Ooh, that would have looked nice in an Angels uniform. Of course, we could have used that." Like, but I love that picture. If we can bring that picture back up, Shohei looks right at home in the Rays uniform. I love that our behind-the-scenes staff made that. Like, he would have looked legit. But, the reality is, yes, we all know the Rays would not have would not have kept him. Yes, we know the Rays would not have have 40 home run threat this year with Junior Caminero still in the lineup.

[00:02:27]But, they were a playoff team.

[00:02:29]Shohei, does he still blow out? People are like, "It doesn't matter. He wouldn't have been pitching."

[00:02:34]Does he still blow out? Maybe. Maybe.

[00:02:37]I'm not saying he does or he doesn't.

[00:02:38]That That's an argument or a discussion that I'll have with God when I go to heaven one day because there is a world where you build a baseball team to make the playoff, which the Rays have been doing forever, and then you do things to push yourself over the limit.

[00:02:55]You push yourself to win the World Series. Because, yes, the Rays have gone to the playoffs. They've not perfected it, but they've done a really good job of saying, "You know what? We don't We don't need to spend money. We're going to go to the playoffs." And if you're able to have a guy like Shohei push you across the line, there is no better pick up than and you should push as hard all in as you can for that type of player. Cuz, in the moment, they had no idea he was going to blow out and he needed a second Tommy John or whatever it was, reconstruction.

[00:03:28]Because, during that time, I had also heard Jackson Holliday, who was a number one pick, I mean, the number one prospect in baseball, was being offered for Shohei Ohtani.

[00:03:40]>> [snorts] >> Now, obviously, the Orioles, if they're the ones that balked at it cuz they didn't want to give him up, but if you remember 2023, what did the Orioles look like? They looked like the team that Bob had just mentioned that was going to be the next group. Were they going to resign Shohei?

[00:03:57]Probably not. That's not the discussion here. The discussion is what does it take to win game five in a five-game series? It takes a player like Shohei Ohtani. What does it take to win game seven? Like any team that has ever fallen short by a game in the regular season or by a game in the postseason you will always say, "Well, what if?

[00:04:20]What if we had this?" You don't, but as a front office, you need to make the push to make sure you get that guy, even if it does mean Junior Caminero, in my opinion.

[00:04:32]Well, you mentioned the Orioles. There's other rumors out there about him possibly going to the Yankees, possibly going to the Rays, possibly going to the Orioles. I mean, look at these uniforms.

[00:04:42]Which [laughter] one does he look the best in?

[00:04:45]Oh, man, I think I really think the Yankees.

[00:04:48]>> I like the Rays.

[00:04:50]I really love the Rays. The The first picture that we saw, I love the Rays.

[00:04:53]The Orioles is good. Orange may not be his thing.

[00:04:58]Yankees. And he would have gotten to He would have gotten an opportunity. And we're This is all hypothetical, but he would have gotten an opportunity to see the professionalism, to see how the Yankees do it, and it would have been something that you know what? He would have helped that team.

[00:05:14]Even if he's not pitching. Even if he's If he's only DH-ing, if he's only in and people say, "Well, Giancarlo Stanton's the DH, and he's stuck there."

[00:05:23]You have to, as a front office, do all you can because there's no doubt in my mind, any team I've ever been on that makes a playoff push, the players are pushing and giving everything they have.

[00:05:36]You need to be willing to get rid of whatever that prospect is. I'm sure in 2023 I could look back and see the Yankees prospects, but if it's Spencer Jones, do you get rid of him?

[00:05:46]Yes.

[00:05:47]If it was Ben Rice, do you get rid of him?

[00:05:49]Yes, cuz in 2023 you didn't know what you had. I don't think I think Jason Dominguez was probably already up at that point, but he was he was the Martian.

[00:06:00]You look at what guys have done and you say, "Yeah, I would give that up." I don't think there's one player I would give up if it meant you won a World Series. I know that's not guaranteed, but I have a hard time believing I wouldn't trade any one player, even if you tell me what he does. If you can guarantee me we won a World Series, I'll trade that player.

[00:06:19]Yeah, if if if memory serves me correct, I believe it was a combination of Jason Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, and Luis Gil were rumored to be traded for Shohei in in 2023 and they've had their ups and downs, but I think those three guys going over to the Angels would have dramatically changed the way that people viewed the Angels. I mean, those all three of those guys have had moments in the big leagues.

[00:06:49]Obviously, Volpe's kind of had up and down. Luis Gil's had up and down. The Martian hasn't really gotten going, but who's to say he wouldn't have gotten going if he was getting everyday opportunities to play left field in Anaheim, but I think what you said earlier, too, Crass, I think when you are so close to to to to, you know, making the push to get into the postseason or to win playoff games or to win a World Series, especially when you're a team that has a legitimate chance to sign this guy in free agency like the Yankees probably would have, there is no better endorsement than getting a guy over into your clubhouse, into your ecosystem, into your organization.

[00:07:28]There's no better sell to a guy when you can go over to New York and when you're a beloved figure by that fan base, when you're in that clubhouse with a guy like Aaron Judge and some of the other guys, when you see how first class that organization is, when you see the way that they travel, when they see the way, you know, the chefs take care of the players and the clubbies take care of the players, that's even more important to go all in. When you do feel like you are going to be targeting this guy in free agency, even if you do have to give up, you know, a lot of these great players or these players that end up being great big leaguers. But, when you're a team like the Yankees, when you're a team like the Dodgers, when you're a team like the Phillies, and you have the ability to go out and spend, you go out and you get these guys into your organization. There's no better sell for a player than and being there, putting the uniform on, being in that environment. And it makes it even more tough when they go to free agency. Do they want to leave somewhere that, you know, they've been beloved and they love and they understand that it's first class and, you know, when you're a free agent and you go on all these like trips to all these different organizations, get their sell. There's no better sell than actually being there.

[00:08:34]All right, well, Shohei, we know didn't get traded because, as we've mentioned many times, the Angels don't make trades like this because Arte Moreno wants to hold on to guys, sometimes for too long, like he held on to Shohei.

[00:08:45]There's also the other trade that Joe Davis mentioned. Uh, what was it? Ross Stripling, Joc Pederson, and Andy Pages, who's turning into a star himself, for Luis Rengifo, who now, I believe, is a Brewer, and a couple of minor leaguers.

[00:08:58]But, Arte Moreno nixed it because he didn't want to wait longer because it was because of the Dodgers or whatever whatever the reason was.

[00:09:07]Does Arte Moreno have too much say with the Angels in making decisions on this, guys?

[00:09:12]I mean, I I He He is the owner, but I would I would say so. But, I think there has to be a little bit less pride um and who where you trade a guy. Would it have made the Dodgers potentially better or worse? I don't know. But, at the end of the day, if you feel like you were making your organization better because of the players that you're getting, it shouldn't necessarily matter who you're trading with. I I could understand like if you're in the AL East trading in within division potentially because you got to compete against them and you see them, but just because they're up the road and you both, you know, have Los Angeles in front of your name, is not a reason not to trade with a certain team because you despise them or dislike them and you guys are competing somewhat in the same market, but you're not even in the same league.

[00:09:57]So, if it's going to go out and make your organization better, you got to go make that trade.

[00:10:03]Is he is Arte Moreno the Jerry Jones of baseball?

[00:10:08]Is is he too Is he too involved? In my In my opinion, the stories that we're getting because we haven't heard We haven't heard it come out or we haven't heard Arte Moreno say these things.

[00:10:19]We're only getting them from essentially second and third-hand stories.

[00:10:23]It seems like he feels like there is decisions that need to be made that he hires people to make the decisions, but then he goes ahead and makes those decisions or goes over top of or trumps trumps their decisions and says, "You know what? I'm I'm sick of waiting." Like the Dodgers had a Basically, the story that Joe Davis said was they had to wait until the Mookie Betts trade, which is if you remember, kind of a big deal that the Dodgers picked up Mookie Betts for essentially now Connor Wong to the Red Sox because the Red Sox didn't want to pay Mookie Betts what he was worth to be their franchise star.

[00:11:05]That's a Red Sox are a whole 'nother story. John Henry, but and so he got he got impatient.

[00:11:13]Like he got impatient and said, "Nah, we're not going to do it. I just It just seems like a little bit of measured decision-making needs to be happening at that level and I've heard I've heard different stories. I've heard people that he was going to hire to be high up in his organization say, "Okay, I'll take this job. I'll work for you."

[00:11:36]and very respected people in those positions, but you have to be willing to make these changes. And his exact answer was, "I don't think those things are important. So, we're going to continue to go in a different direction." And these are people that start helped organizations change around their systems. I'm being very vague because of who told me this, but change their systems, created a World Series winning team, and with those systems have created a winner for a decent amount of time here.

[00:12:10]So, it And he was willing to go and help Arte, and Arte said, "Nah, I don't think those things are worth it. Thank you for your time.

[00:12:19]We'll go a different direction."