Dodgers Rumors: Writer Thinks LA Should Trade 4 Top Prospects for Shohei Ohtani

Baseball writers really, really want Shohei Ohtani in a Dodgers uniform. Or maybe they just want to save Shohei from Anaheim. While the superstar two-way player is going to be a free agent after the season, the chance he gets traded during the season remains at an all time high, especially if the Angels fall far enough out of contention by the deadline.

The Dodgers are among the betting odds favorites to land Ohtani if he does get traded and columnist Kerry Miller feels LA has the prospects to make a deal happen.

Here was the trade package he put together along with a few more thoughts.

Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Bobby Miller, OF Andy Pages, C Dalton Rushing and RHP Emmet Sheehan. There was reasonable hope early in the offseason that the Dodgers would get below the $233 million competitive balance tax threshold in order to reset that luxury tax clock and pay less in “overage charges,” if you will, in future seasons—ideally with Ohtani on the team starting in 2024. But if he becomes available at the trade deadline, the Dodgers cannot risk letting the Mets or Yankees swoop in and lock up him before he reaches free agency. They must swing big, offering up three top-100 prospects, as well as a sixth-round pick from two years ago who has pitched well thus far in the minors.

Here's where those prospects rank in the Dodgers' farm system.

Miller 2
Pages 6
Rushing 7
Sheehan 14

I think most fans would make that deal in a heartbeat for someone of the caliber of Shohei Ohtani. You'd be adding not only a middle of the order slugger in the lineup, you also add a top of the rotation ace all in one move.

The Angels would be adding two nearly major league ready players with Miller and Pages -- someone the club tried to acquire in the past -- and two players to boost their farm system depth.

Would a move like this happen? It's just really hard to see Ohtani being moved. If the Halos were going to trade Shohei, they should have done it over the offseason when his value was at its highest. As in he had a season of team control left. Now any team would be potentially trading for a two month rental. Three months with playoffs.

If Ohtani is going to be a Dodger, it's more likely to be via free agency... and they'll have stiff competition.