The mere idea of an Ohtani trade will spark a frenzy of speculation and wishful thinking — and with good reason. The 28-year-old is in the midst of another incredible season, posting a 2.81 ERA with a 36.4% strikeout rate and a 5.8% walk rate in 99 1/3 innings. He’s also hitting .254/.349/.486 with 21 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Dating back to last season, Ohtani hit .256/.363/.550 with 67 home runs in 1,052 plate appearances while also striking out 229 2/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball with a 32.3% strikeout rate. It’s a legitimately historic show, the likes of which today’s fans have never seen before. That the Angels will at least listen is certainly remarkable and is only understandable in light of yet another disastrous season. Despite Ohtani and three-time MVP Mike Trout anchoring the roster, the Halos have a 42-57 record and have already been eliminated from postseason contention. Incredibly, that’s a common refrain in Anaheim, where the Angels haven’t reached the playoffs since 2014 — three seasons before Ohtani’s MLB debut. Recurring injuries up and down the pitching staff regularly combine with immediate cuts from high-profile stars like Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon, leaving the Angels with a pitch-heavy roster that has rarely sniffed playoff contention. Ohtani, meanwhile, has arguably been the game’s biggest deal since arriving on the scene. Instead of waiting until he was old enough to qualify as a professional player on the international market (age 25), he instead chose to make the jump to Major League Baseball at just 23 years old. In doing so, Ohtani knowingly submitted to the international bonus restrictions that govern the signing of amateur players by MLB teams, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table to accelerate his path to the world’s premier league. As shocking as it was at the time, Ohtani was able to find himself in position for a historic contract soon. He’s currently playing for just $5 million in his second year of arbitration eligibility, but will likely receive a huge raise this winter and can become a free agent after the 2023 season. Any team bidding on Ohtani will knowing they can only control him for a season and a half and that the right to do so will cost them a huge chunk of the farm system. An executive who spoke with Heyman and Sherman indicated the Angels “want something like a top four prospect” in exchange for Ohtani’s final season and control of the club. With that remaining control down, however, the Angels have a dilemma. On one hand, it’s easy to say that they should be willing to do whatever it takes to ink Ohtani to the historic contract extension he would surely command. At the same time, the Angels already have both Trout and Rendon on the books at more than $35MM per year for the foreseeable future — Rendon through 2026, Trout through 2030. Ohtani will undoubtedly add another $35MM-plus annual salary to the ledger (perhaps well north of that sum). That would be a justifiable expense, but it takes two to strike a deal. Ohtani has spoken many times in the past about his desire to play for a contending club and reach the MLB postseason, and the Angels have instead stumbled into a baffling stretch of futility during his time with the organization. Asked just last night about his desire to stay with the Angels long-term, Ohtani told The Athletic’s Sam Blum: “No matter where I play, I want to give it my all, try to win the game with the ball that’s right in front of me. I’m with the Angels right now and I’m very grateful for what they’ve done. I love the team very much. I love my teammates. Right now I’m an Angel, and that’s all I can really focus on at this point.” While this is far from an outright statement that he hopes to be traded, it is of course notable that, when given the opportunity, Ohtani did not express hope of staying with the Angels for an extended period of time. Perhaps a record bid would still lead to a deal, but that can’t be known. It’s generally fair to assume that when discussing MLB contracts, money wins at the end of the day. As noted earlier, however, Ohtani has already given up what could have been a $200MM+ contract once as an international free agent to sign instead of a $2,315MM signing bonus — which wasn’t even the top bonus available for him era of his initial deal with the Angels in 2017. Even if a deal is highly unlikely to come together on such short notice, it’s still an exciting wrinkle to add to what’s already shaping up to be one of the most interesting deadlines in MLB history. There has been almost no movement on that point, which generally sets the stage for rampant chaos in the final 48 to 72 hours before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline. ET.
