Shohei Ohtani will be a free agent this winter and is expected to wind up signing the richest contract in Major League Baseball history. But it’s possible the two-way megastar changes teams even before then.
With the Los Angeles Angels slipping out of playoff contention once again (they’re five games out of a wild card spot as the unofficial second half begins on Friday), there has been growing speculation that they could trade him before the Aug. 1 trade deadline so that they don’t lose him for nothing after the season.
Buster Olney recently said on ESPN that he believes the New York Yankees would be the “most motivated” to trade for Ohtani, but listed the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays as possible landing spots as well.
He didn’t mention the Red Sox, but that doesn’t mean Boston wouldn’t have at least some level of interest. As with every other team, Ohtani would significantly improve the Red Sox at two spots.
The 29-year-old currently leads MLB in home runs (32), OPS (1.050), OPS+ (182) and total bases (226). As a pitcher, he has a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts and ranks first in MLB in hits per nine innings (6.01) and fourth in strikeouts (132). He is in the midst of what could go down as the greatest all-around season in baseball history.
During FOX’s All-Star Game coverage on Tuesday, Red Sox legend David Ortiz somewhat jokingly said he would trade half the team to get Ohtani. Joining The Greg Hill Show on Thursday, Ortiz poured some cold water on his own take and didn’t sound too optimistic about Boston’s chances of acquiring Ohtani. Listen to the full interview below.
“Well, the reality is you’re talking about the best player on Earth. To be able to get Shohei… you know that we are rebuilding,” said Ortiz, who works for the Red Sox as a special assistant. “When I’m on the show [on FOX], I’m always joking around, talking all kinds of trash just to entertain people. But the reality is that to get Shohei, whoever decides to get him, is going to have to give away a lot. The Red Sox right now, we are trying to rebuild the farm. We have some good candidates coming up from the farm, and that’s something that I don’t know that the front office has discussed that.
“I mean, wherever Shohei goes, he’s definitely going to help, without a doubt. This guy is on another level. I played baseball in the majors for almost 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like that. This guy, I call him Superman. This guy is capable of doing everything, whatever it takes. So, I’m pretty sure that whoever decides to get him is going to have to give away a lot.”
Trading for Ohtani would be the kind of all-in move we simply haven’t seen Chaim Bloom make since he took over as chief baseball officer in Oct. 2019. To Ortiz’s point, Bloom has made replenishing the farm system a priority with the goal of building from within, and giving up multiple top prospects and/or young major-leaguers in a trade would obviously run counter to that. So, perhaps Ortiz is right to hint that the Red Sox trading for Ohtani seems unlikely.
Then again, Ohtani is not just a once-in-a-generation player, but a once-in-history player who is doing things as a hitter and pitcher simultaneously that not even Babe Ruth did. If he is available, how could the Red Sox not be interested?
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