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Best Available MLB Players on 2023 Trade Block: Shohei Ohtani

Dominic Gutierrez / MLB / July 20, 2023

Best Available MLB Players on 2023 Trade Block: Shohei Ohtani

Every year, we see multiple blockbuster trades go down during MLB’s trade deadline. It’s rare to see the best player in baseball get traded, but that’s a real possibility in 2023. Hopefully, the Los Angeles Angels stop being delusional and trade Shohei Ohtani.

The Numbers

Stats as of July 19, 2023:

Hitting: .307/.392/.680, 35 HR, 76 RBI, 4.4 WAR

Pitching: 7-5, 3.50 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 139 SO

Any team that attempts to trade for Ohtani is going to get two MVP players in one. He leads the majors in triples (7), home runs (35) and OPS (1.072) through 94 games. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster on the pitching side, as Ohtani’s WAR (2.4) is the lowest of his career since the shortened 2020 season. Regardless, he’s on pace to not only win MVP but to potentially break Aaron Judge‘s single-season home run record in the AL. It’s extremely rare when a player of this caliber is on the trade block, and he should almost definitely win MVP, regardless of which team he’s on.

Potential Destinations

Every team with playoff hopes should be calling the Angels. Ohtani’s talent does come with an extremely high price tag, and teams could still be hesitant to trade the farm for a potential rental.

The Dodgers make perfect sense. They spent practically zero dollars last offseason and have a deep enough farm system to do it. However, it sounds like Angels owner Arte Moreno has his feelings tied up and doesn’t want to send Ohtani to the Dodgers.

The Padres and Giants are also possibilities, and it would keep Ohtani on the west coast. The Padres have a track record of going after superstars, and A.J. Preller isn’t afraid to tear down the farm to make it happen.

The Yankees appear to be extremely motivated to acquire Ohtani, but anyone with a baseball brain knows the Yankees should be sellers, not buyers. Brian Cashman has already broken down the farm system, and giving the rest of it away for a potential two-month rental won’t save their horrendous lineup.

The Verdict

If the Angels organization wasn’t run by five-year-olds, Ohtani would be shipped off by August 1 and their rebuild would finally begin. Since the Angels are extremely slow, it seems unlikely they will send him off. They seem to be OK with the fact he’ll most likely walk in free agency and wasted the chance to rebuild its farm. Mike Trout should’ve been traded ages ago, and now the Angels are repeating history because of stubbornness.