IF the Angels trade Ohtani (despite losing 9 of 10, they are still just 5 games out of a playoff spot with half the season to go. Very much in contention.), it would most likely be to an NL team. But it would pretty much guaranteed not be to the Dodgers. Angel fans would burn down the stadium if that happened. The two teams very rarely trade between each other as it is...sending Ohtani to the Dodgers would be the biggest PR nightmare in Angels history. Also, the Dodgers would have to give up far too much in the way of prospects...something they do not like to do. Especially for a guy who may turn out to be a 3 month rental.
The Dodgers would have to get him in free agency. But that price tag is gonna be really high.
And as talented and unique as Ohtani is, it's important to note that his talents have not yet translated to winning. He has 6 years in MLB and has never played a single postseason game. With Mike Trout and Albert Pujols (for most of it), two guaranteed first ballot HOF'ers as teammates. As much as people like to compare him to Babe Ruth, by the time Ruth was 28 (Ohtani's current age), he had been to the World Series 6 times and won 4 championships.
Fair point about the hypothetical Angels-Dodgers trade. However, I don't see the Angels getting into contention. The Trout injury already seems to be damaging, as they skidded hard this past week. So what to do with Ohtani? If I was the Angels GM, I'd consider trading him unless they go on a blazing hot streak between now and Aug 1. There isn't any point in keeping him if they're not playoff bound, and unwilling to sign him to a mega-deal after the season.
I don't compare Ohtani to Ruth for a couple reasons. 1. Ruth basically quit pitching when he was in his early-20s, so he wasn't the two-way threat for most of his career. In that regard, Ohtani is much more versatile. And 2. Ohtani's stats are nowhere near as good as Ruth's. However, as a contributor to his team, I think Ohtani is absolutely a winner who has arguably increased his team's chances of winning more than any other individual player in MLB so far in 2023 (largely due to the dual hitting/pitching threat). He just has the misfortune of playing on a team with a lackluster supporting cast (unlike Ruth who had great teammates his entire career).
Fair enough about Ohtani's lack of surrounding talent. And yeah. Ruth was a different era...and a different franchise.
I will bring up here the fallout that my team, the Rockies, have suffered the last few years...
They were basically forced to trade Nolan Arenado. That they were forced to trade him by Arenado himself is beside the point. (Nolan turned out to be a real turd. He was advertising himself as a willing trade piece to the Cardinals before he even signed that deal with Colorado. He talked his way into a player option knowing he was going to opt out, and knowing the Rockies would suffer because of it. Adam Wainwright put that out there. The fallout has been that not only are the Rockies still paying that traitor, but also the fans took his side. For that, Nolan's an asshole. But that's not the point...)
The point is that the Angels should consider their immediate future. The chances of getting a great return for Ohtani are slim. Baseball trades for prospects are not a sure thing, and no one is going to give up players in a trade that are going to be needed to get to the postseason this year. The Arenado trade netted Colorado a 3B prospect who hasn't been able to figure it out at the MLB level (Montero), and a starting pitcher who has proven himself nothing more than a 4th starter (Gomber). And that's really fortunate for Colorado. Unless they trade him in the offseason, the Angels won't get any established MLB'ers. At least if they let him leave via free agency, they'll get an extra first round pick of their own. And if they DO wait and allow that to be the worst case scenario, then at least they can try to sign him in the offseason. Trading him says that they give up. And it's not like the Angels are small market...they should be in the hunt to resign him.
Angel fans. I think. would see a trade of Ohtani as the team giving up and settling for a long rebuild. Never a good way to hold onto a fanbase. Especially when you have a more successful team they can turn to in the same market. _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
Well I said the Angels would have to 'go on a blazing hot streak before Aug 1' to justify keeping him. They've won 6 of their last 7 so that must be hot enough. They're still 4 GB in the wild card standings, but I agree with the author of this article that the bigger reason they're keeping Ohtani is because no team was willing to meet the Angels's asking price. Furthermore, he generates too much revenue for the team. We'll see if acquiring Giolito and the return of Trout can push them into a playoff spot. It's gonna be tough, though.
Yeah unless they got the godfather offer for Ohtani, he wasn't going to be traded. It wouldn't have been realistic to expect a deal the size of Juan Soto's, but they clearly wanted something like an MLB-ready piece and at least two blue-chip prospects plus a lower-level lottery ticket, which no teams would be willing to give up for only three guaranteed months of Ohtani regardless of the initial excitement he would generate. I guess the Angels are going all in on the hope & prayer of a playoff spot, but that's going to be tough in the American League- I know, considering how big of a hump the Mariners still have to climb. Maybe the draft pick they recieve will be another slept-on Mike Trout type, who knows?
Angels announce they won't trade Ohtani. He then pitches a 1-hit shutout in game 1 of a double-header but goes 0-5 at the plate. But then in game 2 of the double-header, he goes 2-3 and hits 2 HRs...then leaves the game with an apparent injury. Quite a day for the young star.
But it sounds like he's fine, and it was only a cramp. As much as he works being a two-way player, cramping is likely bound to happen from time to time.
Anyway, I totally understand why the Angels GM considered trading him, but I also understand why nobody wanted him. He's too talented and too risky for any team to go after mid-season. Makes more sense for teams to pursue him in the offseason. The pressure is now on the Angels to get a wild card, and make a playoff run to perhaps give Ohtani enough confidence to re-sign with them. Or at the very least, the Angels make a few more bucks off him this season if he decides to leave.
So after all that noise about the Mets going into 2023...they trade their two best pitchers. It was cool that Verlander won his 250th game in last Mets start. But now he's back where he came from. Meanwhile Scherzer was traded to the Rangers. Teammates turned into AL West rivals. Not sure who's gonna win that division but I think it's safe to say both will at least make the playoffs.
Now that the trade deadline dust has settled, these are my playoff predictions.
AL division winners - Rays, Twins, Rangers
AL wild cards - Orioles, Astros, Blue Jays
NL division winners - Braves, Cubs, Dodgers
NL wild cards - Giants, Phillies, Brewers
Other than the Braves winning the NL East, every other prediction was a tough call. There are so many playoff-bubble teams. Should be an interesting, exciting final two months.
I'm feeling better about the Mariners than I was just a week ago, seems like the roster (especially some under-the-radar re-enforcements) is peaking at the right time. Too bad they have to climb the hump in the American League- where everybody but the A's in the east and west are basically contenders (though the Angels are backsliding- haha not trading Ohtani seems more genius by the day) but someone is going to tumble into the playoffs by default in the Central. In the National League it seems more balanced, with three teams in each division still in it and two definitely out. Wonder if Juan Soto (or Xander Bogearts. or Manny Machado) are going to be on the Padres roster to start 2024.
McClanahan's injury is a devastating blow to the Rays. I don't think they're a WS contender anymore; I don't think they're winning the East anymore. Question is, will they hold onto a wild card spot? They still have talent and a 5-game lead, so there's a reasonable chance, but then again there are everal teams fighting for 3 wild card spots. How about the Mariners and Phillies? Looking good in recent weeks. Their respective divisions may be out of reach but wild card probabilities are on the rise.
The whole Angels/Ohtani situation could not have gone any worse. 12-32 since the trade deadline, losing their star for the season, who will not be able to pitch again until 2025. Poor Angels fans. And poor Ohtani. His long-term longevity as a two-way player is now in serious question. I was thinking he may receive the first ever $500M contract this off-season. But if I was a GM, I wouldn't offer him that. Thus, this second major elbow injury is gonna cost him money in free agency, unless some team is crazy enough to offer him $500M anyway. Ohtani should consider choosing pitching or hitting, but not both. It's clear performing at an elite level in both causes wear-and-tear on his body, and these injuries could become cyclical.
How about the 2020 World Series teams? The Rays keep winning despite losing pitchers left and right. I don't know how they do it, but it's pretty cool. The Dodgers also keep winning despite a gutted rotation that's seen May, Gonsolin, Urias, and now Buehler shut down for the season. That's 4/5 of last year's rotation. It would be neat if they had a WS rematch this year, but I don't think many fans expect that. There are other great teams out there who are also healthier. Sure, the replacement pitchers on the Rays and Dodgers are performing very well, but they lack the experience of the guys they're replacing, which could be a weakness come playoff time. We'll see. So far, so good. However, I think a likelier WS rematch would be that of 2021. The Braves and Astros are looking solid.
And for the obligatory Phillies and Mariners note...they're doing fine. Keep up the good work, and they'll make a wild card. I think the Phillies got this. 3 games up with 11 to play, and three teams would have to catch them...it would take a total collapse to miss the playoffs (however, they have one the most notorious late-season collapses in MLB history, so this Philly fan won't take it for granted until they're officially clinched). Ironically, the Mariners are one game better than the Phillies, yet they're a bubble team at the moment. Just goes to show how the AL is full of haves and have-nots, plus they feature the worst division in MLB by far, making it likely a non-division winner will miss the playoffs with a better record than a division winner (the Twins). Between the Jays, Astros, Rangers, and Mariners, one of them will miss. I think the Mariners are good enough to not be the odd man out. It's too bad MLB got rid of Games #163 in case of a tie. Hypothetically, I would like to see that if two of these four teams tied for the last wild card spot. That would be fun, but head-to-head record will be the determiner.
Anyway, should be a fun home stretch! Go Phillies! _________________ on such a winter's day
Now that the trade deadline dust has settled, these are my playoff predictions.
AL division winners - Rays, Twins, Rangers
AL wild cards - Orioles, Astros, Blue Jays
NL division winners - Braves, Cubs, Dodgers
NL wild cards - Giants, Phillies, Brewers
I later rescinded my 'Rays winning the East' prediction when McClanahan got hurt, but not bad. Got all AL teams right, with 2 mixed up division winners and wild cards. 4/6 on the NL teams.
It sucks the playoffs will be without the Cubs and Mariners. It was all looking bright for the Northsiders a few weeks ago. They were 76-64, several games ahead in the wild card, with a legit shot at winning the NL Central. They went 6-14 over their next 20, including 1-6 against Arizona (one of the teams who passed them in the standings). Blown leads by their bullpen and horribly-timed fielding errors that cost them wins. A brutal choke job.
As for the Mariners, they went 11-16 over the last month of the season, dropping from 1st in the West to 3rd, and just missing the wild card by one game. I'm sure it's a tough pill for cestuneblague to swallow. However I wouldn't call it a choke because A. They never had a big lead in the standings anyway, and B. Their Sept schedule was totally ruthless. Their 11-16 stretch included 7 games against the Rangers, 4 against the Rays, 3 against the Dodgers, 3 against the Astros (all those teams finished with 90+ wins and made the playoffs). I don't think it's a case of the Mariners regressing from last year. On paper, they seemed about equally good this year as last. The issue, I think, was other teams in the AL simply got better, such as the Rangers, Orioles, and Rays. In those crucial games in Sept against the Rangers and Rays, the Mariners went 4-7, 3-7 if you discard the final meaningless game after they were already eliminated. Hard to deny that made a difference. Again, the AL is tough, and teams gotta keep up with their rivals. Of course, the Mariners can still be competitive going into 2024, but they should (and likely will) pursue a big-name free agent this off-season.
Anyway, it's playoff time! Who do you all think will win? _________________ on such a winter's day
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