Prior to the August 1 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly engaged in trade negotiations and are seeking more players than simply Shohei Ohtani.’
According to a report in The Athletic, the Dodgers are keeping an eye on the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox to see if they’re prepared to trade established players for younger prospects, even though the Angels’ two-way ace and impending free agency is at the top of every team’s want list.
With New York sitting seven games out of the National League wildcard at 46-52 and Boston lying 2.5 games back in the American League, the Mets and Red Sox did play each other on Sunday night at Fenway. Although they are both theoretically still in the running for a playoff spot, each team has the option of forgoing this season and trading some veterans for younger players.
The Dodgers, who are currently in first place, had previously been reported to be looking to add arms and a right-handed bat. The Dodgers now have the second-most runs in the majors yet the 19th-lowest club ERA.
At a variety of spots, Hernandez has continued to be valuable defensively, but in 2023, he has had trouble. He is now only hitting.218 with a.593 OPS, much behind his career averages of.237 and.718. Pham, on the other side, is still difficult to bҽat. He now has an OPS of.831 and an on-base percentage of.356.
Of course, Ohtani represents the most alluring alternative for the Dodgers as they are most likely to possess both the assets to trade for him (catcher Diego Cartaya and pitcher Bobby Miller, to name a couple) and the cash to sign him to a long-term contract this winter.
The former American League MVP’s contract is slated to expire after this season, and the Angels have already declared their intention to keep him beyond that. However, with free agency approaching, LA might try to negotiate a deal now in order to get something in return for his departure.
The Los Angeles Times’ Jorge Castillo recently reported that the Dodgers are the favorites to sign Ohtani this summer, while ESPN’s Buster Olney claimed that the New York Yankees are the team that is “most motivated” to trade for the player. Ohtani is in the final year of his contract with the Angels organization and earning $30 million this year. Since choosing the team to join in late 2017, he has spent six seasons in Anaheim, although the Angels have yet to reach the postseason or even record a winning record throughout his time there with Mike Trout.
The deadline for MLB trades is August 1. The Angels might only receive a compensation draft pick if they don’t trade Ohtani if he signs as a free agent with another team.
Every team in the majors will be interested in Ohtani this offseason, and if he becomes a free agent, ambitious teams like the Dodgers, Mets, Giants, and Padres are anticipated to battlҽ with the reasonably wealthy Angels for his services.
Ohtani probably won’t sign a contract extension in 2023, according to his agent Naz Balelo, who made the prediction in February.
During Tuesday’s All-Star game, the entire stadium chanted in unison for Ohtani to sign as a free agent with Seattle.
The two-position star added, “Never experienced anything like that, but I definitely heard it,” through his interpreter. But I was attempting to pay attention to my at-bat. Even though his performance was pretty unremarkable, Ohtani was the All-Star Game’s biggest celebrity. The American League’s nine-game winning streak came to an end with a 3-2 loss to the National League as Ohtani went 0 for 2 with a walk.
But what happened as Ohtani was in the batter’s box caught everyone’s attention.
The stadium erupted in raucous cries of “Come to Seattle!” as soon as the Seattle supporters became aware of Ohtani’s impending free agency this offseason. Visit Seattle today!
“Every time I visit this place, the crowd are enthusiastic and fully engaged in the game. It’s therefore really impressive,” Ohtani added. Actually, I resided in Seattle for a few off-seasons. So I enjoy the city. It’s gorgeous.
They stood out from the big pop he received during the pregame introductions, which was only topped by Seattle’s three representatives since they were both impossible to miss and a touch distinctive.
‘I did talk to him a little bit but nothing specific about him coming to Seattle, just asked him a couple questions,’ Seattle star Julio Rodríguez said. That was cool, though. Observing how the entire city came together was quite interesting. Ohtani’s free agency this offseason was the buzz of the All-Star Game with some pondering whether a deal in the $600 million range could be possible for the two-way star.
To be honest, I believe that Shohei has a lot of supporters. And that indicated their want for him and their affection for him, according to AL manager Dusty Baker.
His future could become a topic sooner than later if the Angels continue to fade with Mike Trout sidelined by ιnjury. The Angels entered the All-Star break losers of five straight and nine of 10 to drop below .500. The Angels said they have no intention of dealing Ohtani prior to the trade deadline, but that could change over the next few weeks.
‘I’m not really going to change anything personally, just keep it the same,’ Ohtani said. ‘I know we have a lot of injuries right now and we’re in a tough spot, but we need to hang in there because we got guys coming back soon. So try to hang in there and get as many wins until all the guys come back.’