Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Sits in Unsurprising Spot in Offseason Free Agency Primer

Shohei Ohtani is expected to get much attention on the market this offseason.

An MLB insider thinks Shohei Ohtani will headline the entire 2023 offseason.

Over at The Athletic, Jim Bowden has Ohtani as the No. 1 free agent in this year's class ... duh.

After having a fantastic performance thus far this season, Ohtani is a free agent, and the likelihood of him re-signing with the Angels seems slim. He wants to win, and over the last 6 years, the Angels have been unable to do so, no matter how much Arte Moreno spends on big name stars.

Ohtani’s talent comes once in a lifetime. Baseball hasn’t seen a player like him ever. A team can get an ace-level starter who happens to hit 40-plus home runs a season. Of course, at 29, Ohtani’s talent will diminish, but with his unbelievable athleticism, he will figure out how to succeed.

This season, while playing for a .500 team, Ohtani has 10 wins and 4 losses with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. In 130.2 innings, he has 165 strikeouts while walking 54.

If Ohtani were only a starter, he would get enormous amount of attention. Teams would make him offers of $250 for 8 years.

However, Ohtani is a great hitter. This season, he has a .306 batting average, 40 home runs, 83 RBI, and .919 OPS. The market doesn’t have a hitter like Ohtani, and many teams need to upgrade their offenses.

If I were a general manager with unlimited resources, I would offer Ohtani a 10-year $560 million deal. Ohtani may want a no-trade clause, and he should get it since baseball hasn’t seen anything like Ohtani.