Angels rebuff calls to trade star Ohtani

Trade him while you can, as after next year, he is going to break your bank! The Angels can hardly afford to keep some of the players they already have, let alone give Otani what his value is worth on the open market!

Being from Georgia, and living in Otani's hometown (Oshu, Iwate), I hope Atlanta can get him. That would be wonderful.

The Angels will trade Trout before they'd trade Otani.

Trout, Rendon, and a possible record breaking contract for Ohtani would push them into the luxury tax. The rest of the club would have to be minor league players.

Trade him for what? Magic beans? Thats what draft picks and prospects are, in baseball even more so than the NBA or NHL. You'll never get another Trout or Otani in a hundred years. Yes, Otani will break the bank but perhaps Mike Trout is who the Angels ought to get rid of. Trout has turned into an injury prone player, but Otani might be just as fragile in future years given how much he plays. The Anthony Rendon acquisition was a huge mistake too.

Ohtani has stated that his purpose of coming to MLB was to win the World Series. After his contract runs out at the end of next season, he’s going to see that the angels are a dead end and leave anyway. There are plenty of contenders that can afford him.

The Angel's got Otani on a sweet-heart of a deal, from their side, and I hope his agent is smart enough to realize that to keep him, they are going to have to fork out between $350 to $400 million or more to keep him.

SDCAToday  10:22 am JST

Trout, Rendon, and a possible record breaking contract for Ohtani would push them into the luxury tax. The rest of the club would have to be minor league players.

Based upon their current record of 39-55, it seems like the rest of the Angels are already playing at the minor league level.

Shohei could nip all this in the bud by quietly informing the Angels that he has no intention of re-signing with them.

It would force their hand.

The fans in LA love Ohtani.

They would not be very happy.

It is interesting. Will Ohtani go for the major payday and become the highest paid player ever? Or, will he stick with the Angels in an attempt to shoot the moon?

After he gets traded, all the Angels "fans" will magically disappear and you'll no longer see their games on BS1 or J-Skysports. It will be like the Angels don't exist anymore. All the people will then become (new team's name) "fans" and that team will be splashed all over your TV screen and the cycle repeats when he leaves. Luckily, he has no interest in New York and the Yankees don't need him.

After he gets traded, all the Angels "fans" will magically disappear and you'll no longer see their games on BS1 or J-Skysports.

For Japanese Angels fans, yes I agree. For those of us that have been through heartbreak in the 80s, garbage teams in the 90s, 2002 ring, 2000s heartbreak and lousy teams from 2010s to now will ride or die with this team til the end. The last thing I want is Ohtani gone and rebuilds don't always turn out like the Astros. They usually stay bad like the Reds, Marlins or Tigers.

To have a team with both Trout and Otani, the Angels have really gone absolutely no where.

Might as well break up the team. Get a new GM while they’re at it too.

To have a team with both Trout and Otani, the Angels have really gone absolutely no where.

I have been a Milwaukee Brewer's fan since forever, and I would love to see these two on the team with the starting pitching they have!

Ahhh, but to dream!

Seattle should trade for him and make the Mariners Japan's favorite team again. Nintendo still owns 10% if I am not mistaken.

The licensed goods sales alone in Japan when Ichiro was a Mariner, probably covered his yearly salary, and sure the same would happen if Ohtani went to Seattle.

Angels big contracts now are Trout, Rendon and Syndergard. They are paying Ohtani 5mil and still cannot build a competitive team. How much more when he reaches free agency and worth so much more.

The Angels are still paying Justin Upton $20million this year. That obligation ends, so it is freed-up cash. Ohtani brings in about $10million in extra advertising for the club. I have yet to see how much of a slice the team gets from his jersey sales but millions have been sold (even my daughter bought one). And more fans attend his games, even as the visiting team. The Braves had the highest three-game (non-playoff) stretch in years over the weekend, as fans come to watch him - gate receipts are a factor. I think the Angels can squeeze enough money out of all these revenue streams (and cut losses, in the case of Upton) to pay for him at the $35-40million salary range for 6-7 years. The problem is that Ohtani and his agents will want 10 years at $40 million per annum, and everyone knows that very few players are worth that once they turn 37 (Justin Verlander is the exception this year.) So the last three or four years of the contract are like a deferred salary to sweeten the salary made during the age 30-36 stretch. Some players like Pujols and Upton got so bad that they were released in the last year with guaranteed millions in pay for no work at all.

@Sal--I agree about the conundrum of guessing the value of possibly broken down players ten years down the road.

The Pujols deal may not be so bad because when he was cut by the Angels a year ago, the team that picked him up--the Dodgers--started paying his salary. Then he signed with the contender Cardinals this year for a lower salary to let the old timer fans see him reunited with Yadier Molina before retiring and HOF induction. Unexpectedly, it was old Albert and Miggy Cabrera of the Tigers on the field at the All Star Game, while Molina was sidelined by injury. Not to mention Pujols is on the current trip to Toronto while All Star teammates Goldschmidt and Arrenado wait stateside due to being unvaxed.

Houston Astros or Seattle bound! I wouldn't count out the Chicago Cubs!

Zoroto: "If you just watched Japanese sports shows, you would think the Angles are 94-0 with Otani winning every game for them."

Those aren't sports shows, it's prime-time news! And to be honest, I don't even think there IS a team, just Ohtani playing by himself against everyone else. Well, until it's announced they lost again -- then it's a team. Otherwise, you literally ONLY see Ohtani in all the footage.