Angels Could Have Received a Franchise-Altering Package for Shohei Ohtani: Report

Should the Angels have made this deal?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Did the Los Angeles Angels make a mistake in not trading star pitcher and hitter Shohei Ohtani before he left in free agency?

The short answer: Probably.

The Angels knew they were not going to be able to pay Ohtani what he wanted, which was confirmed when he signed a wild $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. However, the Angels could have easily traded Ohtani and at least gotten something back for someone who is widely considered a top-5 player in MLB.

In fact, the Angels could have gotten a lot in exchange for Ohtani. Ohtani is a rare player who would fetch a lot in trades — even in a contract year — and multiple teams would be willing to give up incredible assets to get him.

One of those teams willing was the San Diego Padres. Nearly two years ago, the Padres traded outfielder James Wood and MacKenzie Gore to the Washington Nationals to bring in Juan Soto. Prior to the trade, neither of these players were viewed as ones the team would have traded. However, the Padres made an exception for Soto.

Before that, the Padres reportedly were similarly offering up some of the top prospects in their loaded farm system in talks to acquire Ohtani from the Angels, per The Athletic's Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal.

The Angels, of course, would not budge, and Ohtani stayed with the team through the 2023 season. The Nationals bit the bullet on sending Soto to the Padres. Today, some of the prospects they acquired in the Soto deal have Washington (27-33) in a better spot than the Angels (23-38) — whose farm system is arguably in poorer shape than their major league roster.

There's no guarantee the Angels would be on their way to a successful rebound even if they had gotten something in return for Ohtani, but it would have been better than nothing.