Just saw this article.... "Fact or fiction: Could Shohei Ohtani be traded to Pittsburgh Pirates?"

[daygloman]

https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/baseball/pete-donovan/2023/05/02/could-shohei-ohtani-be-traded-by-los-angeles-angels-to-pittsburgh-pirates/70176126007/?fbclid=IwAR0Fp353lwhYC-zEhJdkhCZbpGUhGKiUG7myQQiy5Bgu8Qnr_ILJzQqEPlQ

PETE DONOVAN

Fact or fiction: Could Shohei Ohtani be traded to Pittsburgh Pirates?

Pete Donovan

Special to The Desert Sun

 

 

 

 

 

0:00

0:34

 

 

Fact or fiction?  Or maybe fable?

    Let's begin with the facts: Shohei Ohtani is the most valuable player in baseball.  Nobody can do what he does.  He's an elite power hitter and one of the five best pitchers in the game.  He is a Gold mine in cleats. 

    He currently is working for the Angels on a one-year $30 million contract  That contract -- and the Angels control -- expires at the end of the season, making Ohtani the most-coveted free agent in history. 

    Another fact: Ohtani has expressed his desire to play for a winning organization, which the Angels sadly are not.

 

    So, do they trade him by mid-summer for a handful (boatful) of prospects or wait until he flees in the fall?

    Now, few teams can afford the kind of money Ohtani and his agents will require, somewhere around $500 million or more for likely 10 years (he's 28 this year).  Only baseball's behemoths like the Yankees, Mets and Dodgers can write a check that big --  although the Mariners, Padres and Cubs would like to be dealt a hand in that bidding war. 

    However, ALL teams can afford $15 million, the cost to rent Ohtani for the rest of the summer, should the Angels move him and restock their roster with prospects. 

 

    The talk has long been that the Dodgers will try to sign him as a free agent or trade for him in July.  Forget the trade talk, Angel owner Arte Moreno will not ship him up the Freeway.

    What about a team that is having a good, and surprising season?  Why not go there for three months and push that team into the playoffs and re-energize the entire franchise and city?  How about the Pittsburgh Pirates? 

 

    The once-proud Pirates have been dismal recently with two 100-loss seasons in 2021 and 2022.  Attendance is embarrassing for the franchise of the great Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner and the Willie Stargell "We Are Family" teams.  They average 15,000 fans per game -- they would sell out every game Ohtani pitches and maybe some more when he is just clobbering home runs and stealing bases. The Pirates have four prospects listed in the Top 54 of all of baseball. Couldn't they, shouldn't they, wouldn't they ship two or three of them to the West Coast for a shot at the championship for the first time since 1979, a mere 44 years ago.

Hey, the Pirates were 20-8 after the weekend, the second-best record in baseball, but attendance continued to lag, placing them in last place among National League teams.  What a shot at the turnstile Ohtani would be!

Fact or Fiction?  Or Fable?  Pittsburgh Pirates, 2023 World Champions.

Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com

 

[Revad]

I suppose it could happen.  I’m happy to see the Pirates do well and like their future assuming they hold on to the prospects.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Revad

[daygloman]

6 minutes ago, Revad said:

I suppose it could happen.  I’m happy to see the Pirates do well and like their future assuming they hold on to the prospects.

Let's hope it doesn't happen.

Let's hope he stays.

[Blarg]

Every team except the bottom feeders will have some article about how they are the trade partner for Ohtani. Is this article fact? No, it's click bait. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

As an Angel fan veterano, I just want to chuckle at the authors idea of finally winning after two horrible years, and thinking it would be a good idea to trade off young players for 3 months of a guy you can't afford at the end.

Bad idea, Bucs fan.

[TroutField]

Ohtani want to win so he would head to…. Pittsburgh ? 
 

after 3 months in Pennsylvania Ohtani might have zero problem running back to Orange County. This might work out, actually. 

[Make Angels Great Again]

The pirates have clearly shown over the last 3 decades that they are the model for excellence.

[REDneck]

A Samurai colors are yellow and black!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone will google this.

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 hours ago, TroutField said:

Ohtani want to win so he would head to…. Pittsburgh ? 
 

after 3 months in Pennsylvania Ohtani might have zero problem running back to Orange County. This might work out, actually. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked Pittsburgh significantly better than Orange County.

[Swordsman78]

The Angels should use the "threat" of trading Ohtani to Pittsburgh in July, in order to entice him to sign a long term deal with the Halos in July.

[Swordsman78]

1 hour ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked Pittsburgh significantly better than Orange County.

He would hate Pittsburgh.    Everyone hates Pittsburgh.   Closed Steel mills, dirty snow, it's an armpit.  Plus they don't have any Japanese restaurants or people.

[Angelsjunky]

Ohtani isn't going to be traded. Not unless Trout and Rendon collide in a base-running accident and are both out for the year.

Oh wait, this is the Angels and that could happen.

[OhtaniSan]

If Shohei leaves or gets traded - I'm gonna need a new username. I hope he stays

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, OhtaniSan said:

If Shohei leaves or gets traded - I'm gonna need a new username. I hope he stays

OhtaniSad.

[OhtaniSan]

1 minute ago, jsnpritchett said:

OhtaniSad.

Might unironically use this if it comes down to it LOL. Thanks Jason, my real name is Jason too - so you're clearly already a cool dude

[James]

10 hours ago, Swordsman78 said:

He would hate Pittsburgh.    Everyone hates Pittsburgh.   Closed Steel mills, dirty snow, it's an armpit.  Plus they don't have any Japanese restaurants or people.

Actually, Pittsburgh has bounced back rather well from their economy being destroyed when the steel industry went abroad. They did a much better job than some other similar major cities nearby did when they lost their industry. Pretty sure it is looked at as one of the better places to move for these reasons and cost of living. When I was there for a few years, much you said is true but now they even have good mexican food and plenty of sushi spots. 

With that said, the idea of Ohtani going there is ludicrous. 

[Biergott]

Well, IF he goes somewhere other than here, because we didn’t make the playoffs again (which I’m hoping isn’t the case) I just don’t want him going to any of these teams:  Doyers (enough said), Spankees (there’s no way he’d go to the evil empire, right?) Red Sux (I just can’t with anything Boston), Houston Trash Cans (ugh he can’t go to the cheaters! There’s no honor in that town!) Texass (imagine the legendary loser status of losing both Ryan and Ohtani here?) or Splooattle (as if Servais isn’t smug enough already)

Phillies, Cards, Pads and Giants are right behind but with much less venom.  Though seeing him with Fanny Fachado and Ringworm Tatis Jr would be a special kind of shitty too… only saving grace would be seeing the Doyers dethroned from owning the NL West.

I guess him going to a team that hasn’t been a winner for a while would soften the blow and allow me to continue to root for him and not hate him.  I can’t imagine not being a fan of his forever.  I can’t imagine him in another uniform, sucks to even consider!

He’s staying put in Anaheim dammit!

[TroutField]

23 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked Pittsburgh significantly better than Orange County.

No 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 5/3/2023 at 1:33 PM, Revad said:

I suppose it could happen.  I’m happy to see the Pirates do well and like their future assuming they hold on to the prospects.

Exactly why this won't happen. The Pirates aren't going to dump prospects for a partial season rental of Ohtani. Their scouting and development is finally beginning to bear fruit, and it would scuttle their efforts.