MLB Insider: Yankees Made 'Serious' Trade Offer For Shohei Ohtani
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NEW YORK — The Yankees were among a short list of teams to make "serious offers" for two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
According to Heyman, New York, along with the Padres and White Sox, tried to get Ohtani leading up to the trade deadline. Ultimately, Los Angeles decided to stop listening to offers and officially keep their generational talent.
Ohtani is the reigning American League Most Valuable Player, an ace-caliber starting pitcher and slugger that wreaks havoc offensively. In 2022, Ohtani has a 2.81 ERA over 17 starts, striking out 145 batters in 99.1 innings pitched. He's also hitting .255/.352/.495 with 22 home runs and 62 RBI in 99 games.
With Los Angeles outside of the postseason picture once again this year, and Ohtani approaching free agency (he's on pace to hit the open market after next season), it made sense for the Angels to entertain an Ohtani trade. This way, they could potentially recoup an unprecedented amount of value for an all-time talent if they don't plan to extend Ohtani (or they simply can't afford the contract he's worthy of).
It would've taken quite the haul of prospects for the Angels to truly consider a trade, though. Even if the Yankees included No. 1 prospect Anthony Volpe, who has been untouchable, Los Angeles would want (and arguably deserve) much more for two postseason runs with Ohtani.
The Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher leading up to Tuesday's trade deadline (targeting Frankie Montas, among others). Ohtani would've been a tremendous addition to their starting staff, alongside Gerrit Cole. Imagine his bat in the starting lineup with the likes of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Benintendi and more as well.
Nonetheless, it seems like Los Angeles won't be moving their superstar player. At least not this summer. Angels owner Arte Moreno is believed to be unwilling to let Ohtani leave, per Heyman.
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