Insider Picks Padres as Top Landing Spot for Shohei Ohtani if He’s Traded Midseason
It is super hard to imagine your San Diego Padres becoming more star-studded than they already are right now. When Fernando Tatis Jr. returns to the lineup in April, they will be starting off every game with four of the best sluggers in baseball stepping up to the plate.
All of their stars have also been financially taken care of by Peter Seidler, with Juan Soto's contract pending, and the franchise will look to contend for championships for the next decade at least. Manny Machado is just entering his 30's along with Xander Bogaerts while Tatis and Soto are both just 24.
However, one of the biggest names in MLB history will become available at some point this season either via the trade market or the free agency period. Everybody that did not know of him got a firm introduction to Shohei Ohtani in the 2023 WBC and his trade value shot up tremendously. Your Friars have already been viewed as a favorite to land him and this continues with a prediction made by USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
"If the Angels are out of the race at the trade deadline, would they have the guts to trade Ohtani? Absolutely. They may have no choice. Certainly, they’ll need to have a conversation with Ohtani to determine whether he has any interest in returning, and if not, the phone lines are open with operators standing nearby."
"Ohtani’s likely destination, if traded? The San Diego Padres. They have the desire, the prospects, and don’t think Angels owner Arte Moreno wouldn’t love helping the Padres’ chief rival in the NL West overtake the crosstown and rival Dodgers."
(Via Bob Nightengale)
Nightengale brings up a great point in that the Angels may just trade Ohtani on purpose midseason so that way, on their watch, he doesn't make it to the Dodgers. Obviously he can still join them once he hits free agency but it does seem within Arte Moreno's capabilities to prolong that from happening.
Also Ohtani has yet to make the playoffs in LA and hasn't had the best of teammates to back him up. That will all change immediately in San Diego.
