Angels Shouldn't Worry About Padres Prying Shohei Ohtani According to Former Pitcher
There are few teams in the MLB that have shown such confidence in spiking their payroll over the past seasons like the San Diego Padres have. It is clear that once they got their initial taste of getting close to the World Series with two stars on their roster, they wanted to go all-in.
Manny Machado was rewarded with a huge extension after an MVP-level year with the Friars and Xander Bogaerts was also brought in after failed talks with Trea Turner. However, SD hasn't gotten off to the most electric of starts and rumors are starting to grow that they will target the Los Angeles Angels' biggest free agent ever.
It's very obvious why the Padres and other teams looking to contend would offer up the calvary in order to get Ohtani once free agency rolls around or even if he becomes available at the trade deadline.
Beyond just his slash line of .303/.377/.555 and ERA of 3.23, look no further than Monday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles. The 28-year-old superstar was just one double away from becoming the first starting pitcher to ever record a cycle... he is special.
However, John Smoltz who won a Cy Young award in his MLB career, is not very confident in the Padres striking gold again and landing The Unicorn anytime soon.
"I don't see how," said Smoltz. "They're basically saying 'We want to be relevant, we want to beat the Dodgers, we want to win the World Series' and they're putting their money in their assets on the field to do that. I just don't see how it's possible for them to be in a place to be a bidder for Shohei Ohtani."
(Via Flippin' Bats)
We'll have to see the rest of this season plays out but keep a close eye on this storyline.
