Padres A 'Major Threat' to Angels in Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes
The San Diego Padres have been all in for the last four years. Both in the offseason and at the trade deadline, they've made win-now moves to try to earn this team their first World Series in franchise history. While it hasn't worked yet, last year was as close as they've been, and this offseason, they reloaded even more in the form of All-Stars Xander Bogaerts and Michael Wacha.
However, while this offseason had its fair share of star power, next offseason is the one everyone has circled. Because in less than a year from now, Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will hit the open market.
Ohtani is going to have tons of suitors. The division rival Los Angeles Dodgers seem to be at the forefront of that, and you can't count out the San Francisco Giants or the New York Mets or Yankees, too. However, multiple insiders have reported that the Padres are another team to watch out for, and the way they've spent over the past four years, it's hard to think otherwise.
Most recently, MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote about the Padres as a "major threat" to poach Ohtani. Here's what he said:
"The Padres, who seem to be collecting superstars, are said by one Angels person to be viewed as a major threat."
However, he's not the only expert to make that claim.
Earlier this offseason, Bob Nightengale of USA Today said the Padres were "all in" on signing Ohtani. Here's what he had to say:
"The worst-kept secret in baseball is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to stay below the luxury tax to jump in with all of their might to sign Shohei Ohtani as a free agent after the season.
"Their stiffest competition?
"The San Diego Padres, who also plan to be all in."
I don't think anyone can be surprised about these claims as, like I said, the Padres have proved they'll spend just about anything to win. Adding Ohtani to this lineup and rotation would surely catapult them to World Series favorite status and, moreover, keep him out of the division with the Dodgers or Giants.
The only potential concern is that the other big prize of next offseason is Padres superstar third baseman Manny Machado. And the prize of the offseason after that is Padres superstar right fielder Juan Soto.
Do the Padres have enough to spend on Ohtani and another one of those guys? Do they have enough to spend on all three? The logical answer would be probably not, but with the way the Padres are spending right now, we can't really put anything past them.
