Shohei Ohtani is the talk of the town leading up to the trade deadline, and for very good reason. The Angels may end up trading Ohtani, but personally, I don’t think it happens. They could get insane value for him, but the fanbase would riot. Additionally, any team trading for his services would risk giving up half of their farm system for nothing if he leaves in free agency this winter. However, if you’re a team like the Braves, adding Shohei Ohtani would take an already great team to the next level. Bleacher Report recently posted a trade hypothetical for the Braves and Angels revolving around Ohtani:
Proposed Trade:Â
Atlanta gets DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani,
Angels get RHP AJ Smith-Shawver, SS/2B Vaughn Grissom, RHP JR Ritchie, RHP Owen Murphy and RHP Spencer Schwellenbach
Believe it or not, this trade does make the grade as a fair deal for both sides. The big prize for the Angels would be Smith-Shawver, who checked in at No. 38 in the top 100 prospects list.
Still, this is weak sauce. Or, more accurately, quantity over quality. And because Atlanta’s farm system is one of the worst in baseball, it’s hard to fathom a better offer from the team.
I have a few comments on this. First, please stop saying “weak sauce”. Second, this is basically every promising young player the Braves have that isn’t an everyday contributor on the major league club. I don’t think the Angels are going to get the offer they want for Ohtani because of the risk involved. They can’t trade the best player in baseball for nothing, and I don’t envision a team giving up everything in order to get him.
However, if we’re living in fairytale land and this offer is on the table, I’m making that deal 100 times out of 100. First, the Braves can be successful without all of these guys being traded away. They have a majority of their core locked up, and we’ve seen what flipping prospects to acquire a player like Sean Murphy or Matt Olson can do to a team. Second, they have the ability to woo Ohtani and convince him to sign a long-term deal in Atlanta. I’ll give up those prospects for a chance at the World Series in 2023 and a leg up on the competition in the Ohtani free agency sweepstakes.
Still, I won’t be holding my breath waiting on this to happen.
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Photographer: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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