Angels face dilemma in whether to trade Shohei Ohtani
You don’t trade Joe DiMaggio in the middle of the 1941 season.
You don’t trade Jackie Robinson in July of 1947 or Roger Maris in September of 1961.
No, you don’t trade a player in the middle of an historic season. Unless, of course, it’s just too good of a deal!
That’s where the Los Angeles Angels are today, mid-July of 2023.
They have the iconic Shohei Ohtani in the midst of one of the greatest seasons in Major League Baseball history. They have him under contract only for the remainder of 2023 and then he becomes free, able to sign wherever he wishes and for the GNP of several small nations.
When he leaves Anaheim, the Angels will get one draft choice for this seminal player. One draft choice.
But if they trade him now – they should be able to get enough in return to stock their minor league system with a bushel of top prospects. (Currently they only have two of the top 100 prospects in baseball).
Of course, trading Ohtani during the season could cause a tsunami of fan revolt.
What to do? What to do?
Here are owner Arte Moreno’s choices:
A. Stay the course. Let the fans enjoy the remarkable Ohtani for the rest of the season and then hope for the best.
B. Offer Ohtani an 8-year, $400 million contract now. Put the pressure on him and his representatives.
C. Trade him before the deadline (July 31) and get some prime time prospects. Then sell the team and get out of town.
Unlike DiMaggio’s season or Robinson’s or even Maris’ an additional element is at play here and, to no surprise, it involves money.
Ohtani is already an international merchandising gold mine. Should he continue his current pace (especially June when he hit 15 home runs) and make a run at 60 homers for the season, a marketing frenzy will erupt and the Angels will slap his name image and likeness (to borrow the new collegiate sports term) on every product imaginable — and some you can’t even imagine.
To completely understand Ohtani’s marvel and worth, don't forget that he leads the major leagues with 32 home runs and has struck out 132 batters in only 100 innings, which is fourth-best in baseball.
He’s Billy Graham on Sunday and Walter Cronkite on Monday. Think Tom Brady at linebacker.
This is not a fluke either. It’s the third consecutive season he has collected 100 hits and recorded 100 strikeouts. He was the American League MVP in 2021 and will be so again unless the sun sets in the East.
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Happy Heavenly Birthday to Ron Fairly, who would have been 85 today.
No one knew the game – or loved the game – more than “Red”. He had an outstanding 21-year playing career and was an announcer for another 27 years after that. In his nearly half a century career, he witnessed some 7,000 ball games.
Fairly, who died in 2019, was among the most popular speakers at various baseball functions here in the desert where he made his home for many years.
Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Shohei Ohtani: Should Los Angeles Angels keep him or trade him?
