Would Texas Rangers Entertain This Trade for Shohei Ohtani?

The Los Angeles Angels say they're not in sell mode, but if they nosedive before the trade deadline, they might be forced to move Shohei Ohtani.

Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers have already made one trade this season, acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

So far, so good. He’s thrown two scoreless innings in two games.

The Rangers may be willing to make more deals as the Aug. 1 deadline gets closer. If they are still in the hunt for the American League West, or even the best record in the league, they could look to make a swing-for-the-fences kind of trade.

What does that look like? Well, for instance, would the Rangers make a deal to get the best player in baseball?

The worst-kept secret is that Angels pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani will be a free agent after this season. The Angels are still in the hunt for the playoffs.

But what if that changes between now and the end of July? Do the Angels trade Ohtani and get whatever return they can in case they can’t re-sign him?

The Angels, including general manager Perry Minasian, have said they’re not entertaining the possibility. But that’s now. That’s not a month from now.

The Athletic proposed several trade scenarios for the Rangers, but an Ohtani deal would be quite the leap for a franchise that hasn’t contended since 2016.

What would the Rangers give up for Ohtani? In this deal it would be just two players — rising star Ezequiel Duran and one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects, Jack Leiter.

But even that may not be enough, per The Athletic:

Neither team is comfortable with the deal. Los Angeles believes (probably correctly) that it can get more for the once-in-several-generations talent, even as a rental. As much as Ohtani (who has a .929 OPS at Globe Life Field) would help the Rangers on the mound and at the plate, there’s no guarantee that it would result in a championship, and going into 2024 and beyond without Ohtani, Durán and Leiter — with at least the latter two in the division — would be a major setback for the club just as its window is opening.

So, then what? Do the Rangers pay up more prospects or just leave it and, perhaps, take a dark horse swing at Ohtani in the offseason?

The Angels would need to nosedive first for either side to even entertain the thought.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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