We know more moves will be coming before Tuesday’s 6:00 PM eastern time deadline. Will the New York Mets and San Diego Padres be sellers amongst their failing seasons? Will the Guardians and New York Yankees look to add pieces to jump back into the thick of the playoff race?
The one team lumped in with the Guards and Yanks are the Angels, who indicated Shohei Ohtani was pulled back from the trading block on Tuesday.
The Halos are six out in the AL West race, and four back in the Wild Card going into Friday’s action. Adding pieces is the primary objective of General Manager Perry Minasian. Mike Trout was moved to the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a wrist injury. Trout’s 18 home runs are second on the club to Ohtani’s 38, despite playing in nearly 20 fewer games. The Angles already have six players with at least 10 home runs, and two more with at least eight.
It will take a lot of work for Ohtani over the final 60 games to reach the 30-30 club, as his 12 stolen bases are a team-high. However, his 20 starts on the mound have resulted in 120.2 innings and 156 strikeouts. In an event you could not make up, Ohtani threw a one-hit shutout in the first game of a Thursday doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers.
He then hit two more home runs in the nightcap to reach 38.
The most coveted player on the market is an unrestricted free agent after this season, where he is expected to break the bank with his next contract.
After Jalen Brown just got $304 million from the Boston Celtics, despite not being the best player on his team, the Los Angeles Chargers inked quarterback Justin Herbert to a $262.5 million deal. Herbert is not even the best quarterback in his own division.
At 29 years old, this may be Ohtani’s last chance to own an entire city block in either Los Angeles or Japan. The upcoming contract is estimated to cost over $400 million, which would be more than the entire team payroll for all 30 MLB franchises, although the Mets are close at $348 million.
If Ohtani ends up with either New York franchise, or crosses leagues to stay in the LA metropolitan area, you could see some owners filing an antitrust suit, as this would push the winning suitor’s payroll to past $400 million. Ohtani would have been a $30 million split-salary rental for the final two months prior to being pulled on Tuesday.
The Angels also designated struggling first baseman Jared Walsh on Thursday to make room for Giolito. Making up ground on the Houston Astros just got much more difficult, after “Cheater McCheaterton” himself, Jose Altuve returned off the injured list on Wednesday. An MLB-best 8-2 in their last 10 games is inching the Angels closer, which may be just enough to get them to claw back while Trout recovers.
In the NHL, the largest current contract by an active player is Pittsburgh Penguin star Sidney Crosby, at $104.4 million over 12 years. Crosby signed the deal at age 24…back in 2013. The best player in the league, Edmonton’s Connor MacDavid is fourth with a $100 million, eight year deal signed in 2017.
Yet still sports fans wonder why baseball has fallen behind the NFL as America’s national pastime. The Padres, Mets, and Yankees account for over $877.2 million in salary for the 2023 season.
All three are at least fourth in their respective divisions. If Ohtani stays in Anaheim, baseball should be able to sleep better, as their legitimacy hangs from a very thin strand over the next few months.
-JC24