Brandon Tierney brought up a random idea earlier this week on Tiki & Tierney: why not go after Shohei Ohtani if you're a contender?
Seemed like a pipe dream at the time, but on Friday's show, Tiki Barber had to admit he possibility becomes more pragmatic as time goes on.
"It's always been more of a question than reality, but now it seems like more of a reality: if Shohei Ohtani is available to be had, and the prospect cost is lower than Juan Soto, if you're the Yankees, you have to be all in on this, no?" Tiki asked.
BT, unabashed Yankees fan…also thinks that notion applies to the Mets, too.
"It's not just the Yankees, this is an everyone thing because he's one of the best players we've seen," BT retorted. "He really checks every box: he puts butts in seats, he will hit bombs, and do damage on the mound."
To that end, BT encouraged the Angels to rewind recent New York history – basically comparing Mike Trout's injury to hopefully not making him the next David Wright or Don Mattingly, or even Larry Johnson – and realize that Ohtani is now their big fish to be sold, and not to take it lightly.
"They need to look in the mirror and be realistic that Trout has a long-term contract, with a no-trade clause, and the worst injury any player can have: a balky and unpredictable back. They need to look at this through a very pragmatic prism, and you're going to have to knock their socks off with an offer to get Ohtani here."
BT then went on to describe how Thursday was a perfect prospect showcase night, as both the Yankees and Mets' No. 1 prospects – Anthony Volpe and Francisco Alvarez – had great nights, and any reticence to maybe trade either one should be tempered if Ohtani and/or Juan Soto are the price.
"You now have a chance to open two doors if you kick them in hard enough, one is Soto, one is Ohtani," BT implored. "Make it happen."
Tiki believes the Mets would be the needier New York suitor, based on roster construction, and thinks a deGrom-Scherzer-Ohtani rotation might be unbeatable in October – but the Yankees, if willing to spend the prospects and money on Soto, might have a better option in Ohtani, even if there's one less year of control.
And either way, the Halos should be listening.
"The argument can be made for either team to make pushes on Ohtani, because the Angels aren't going anywhere," Tiki said. "Last year, he was the MVP of the AL, Mike Trout was still Mike Trout, and they came back to their subpar mean. They're not going anywhere unless they totally revamp their process, and that's not going to happen until you get the right assets at the right time – and right now is the right time to move on from Shohei Ohtani."
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