The Shohei show goes on. And it keeps getting better.
The most amazing athlete of our time — perhaps of all time — is the multi-talented Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, and his 2023 baseball statistics with Los Angeles Angels are off the chart. Financially speaking, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the the 28-year-old pitcher-outfielder-slugger, who will be a free agent this winter.
Can you spell gazillions? He’ll be able to cover the national debt of most small countries with the financial offers he will undoubtedly receive and if you’re a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, his speculative landing spot, you’re salivating at the prospect of Ohtani moving across town from the Angels to the Dodgers in the most lucrative free-agent signing in history. Ohtani’s financial haul will make Aaron Judge’s nine-year $360 million deal with the Yankees last year look minuscule in comparison.
So what kind of a year is Ohtani having in 2023? As of June 24, Ohtani led all of Major League Baseball with 25 home runs. He was tops in runs-batted-in with 59. He was also No. 1 in slugging, and in OPS, which is a combination of on-base percentage and slugging. OPS is generally regarded as the statistical category that best rates a hitter.
Oh, and Ohtani also does a little bit of pitching when he’s not demolishing baseballs thrown by those who wish to be his mound peers. He’s posted a 6-3 won-loss record, and opponents’ batting average of .179 is best in the majors.
But if you’re the Angels’ management and you agree it’s a foregone conclusion that Ohtani will go the free-agent route this winter, do you maximize the Ohtani asset and trade him in July to a contender? The trade haul would be massive, but it would likely kill the Angels’ chance of making the playoffs (they’re currently in a wildcard position). It would also infuriate fans of the team, who love having baseball’s best player wearing their home team’s uniform.
The best-case scenario for the Angels would be to trade Ohtani by the Aug. 1 deadline, and then make him a free-agent offer he can’t refuse in the off-season. Those close to the team, however, say Ohtani would be unlikely to sign with the Angels if they were to trade him this season.
The 2023 Angels haven’t been overpowering, but with Ohtani and Mike Trout in the everyday lineup, the team is a contender for the first time since the Japanese star joined the team in 2018. It would be a shame for the Angels to dump their superstar in a trade just when their first playoff appearance was on the horizon.
- Headline at fark.com: “GM says Angels unlikely to trade Ohtani as long as they stay in contention this summer. Which probably means he’ll be suiting up for the Yankees or Dodgers by August.”
- Janice Hough, aka leftcoastsportsbabe, on Twitter: “Leeds United was just relegated from the Premier League. Now the team has been sold to 49ers Enterprises. (Yes, as in SF 49ers.) I see a potental Ted Lasso sequel coming on.”
- Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, on the Oakland A’s proposed move to Las Vegas: “A’s will sell out every game in LV, as long as seventh-inning stretch is Seigfried & Roy turning their tigers loose to chase Wayne Newton.”
- English golf writer John Hopkins, on the barrancas at the L.A. Country Club, site of the recent U.S.Open: “What an attractive word barranca was. At home, such a feature would be called a ditch.”
- Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “The collapsed I-95 highway in Philadelphia has been repaired in two weeks. That highway got fixed faster than a Las Vegas Raiders home game.”
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “I just saw where French police are investigating Olympic organizers for graft allegations relating to the 2024 Paris Olympics. As the great Ben Franklin once said, ‘Nothing in this world is certain – except death, taxes and Olympic corruption scandals.’”
- Comedy guy Torben Rolfsen of Vancouver: “I knew Vegas wasn't a real hockey town when they didn't boo Gary Bettman.”
- RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “News of a shocking and unexpected implosion. We're talking of the missing submersible Titan's tragic dive toward the Titanic — not the Blue Bombers crash-diving at IG Field against B.C.”
- Another one from RJ Currie: “TSN has been showing sailing highlight shows. Which tells you, among other things, the NHL and NBA playoffs recently ended.”
- Headline at the onion.com: “Vegas-Area Pawn Shop Celebrates Being Six Weeks Away From Owning Stanley Cup.”
- From the onion.com again: “Tyreek Hill Surprised To Discover Assault Illegal In Florida.”
- Headline at fark.com: “Chris Paul traded to the Warriors for what could be his last season(-ending injury).”
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
