ARLINGTON, Texas — To acquire the best player baseball has seen in the modern era will require an actual working farm, which the Texas Rangers actually possess.
The only reason Shohei Ohtani may be available is because the Anaheim Angels are just that bad, and the man who owns them is vying for Terriblest Owner in Sports, with Dan Snyder no longer in charge of the Washington Team Football.
If the Rangers were to be so bold as to acquire the All-Star pitcher/slugger it would be the biggest add this franchise has made since it signed Nolan Ryan, in December of 1988. Bigger than when the team overpaid to sign Alex Rodriguez, in the winter of 2000.
Bigger than adding Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien combined.
A case can be made that Shohei Ohtani as a Ranger would be the most significant addition any team in this area has ever made.
Should the Rangers give up their farm for Shohei Ohtani? That’s what it will take.
According to a few people familiar with this topic, this question is being discussed on the highest levels with the Rangers. No different than a handful of other teams as we fast approach the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline.
They also may not need him.
On Wednesday at Globe Life Mall, the Rangers finished off a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1.
The Rangers have won six straight games, and just swept a team that coming into the series had the best record in baseball. The Rangers, fresh off six straight losing seasons, are one of the best teams in baseball.
The Astros are still close enough to make the Rangers uncomfortable, but after nearly four months of the season even the most defeated Rangers fan would have to feel good about this team’s chances of reaching the playoffs.
“This is more who we were earlier in the season,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the game.
He’s right.
Ohtani has made it known, through his interpreter, he wants to win. Ohtani has been teammates with All-Star outfielder Mike Trout since he came over from Japan in 2018, and the Angels still have never had a winning season.
Not sure how that’s possible, but here we are.
The Angels are currently one game over .500, which explains why they are remotely contemplating trading a talent baseball has not seen since Babe Ruth: An All-Star hitter and All-Star hitter in the same frame.
Ohtani can be a free agent after the season, and will command a contract so big that maybe even Saudi Arabia couldn’t swing it.
He is 28, and in the prime of his career.
(Full disclosure, in June of 2017, when MLB teams began to scout and bid for Ohtani, I wrote the Rangers should pass. My logic was the results seldom met the investment on pricey Japanese imports. Crushed that one).
Ohtani should re-define the expectations, move back the boundaries, for talented baseball players. There are others out there who can both hit and pitch; baseball must not only let them but encourage them.
The thought of Ohtani in a Rangers uniform, striking out batters in the top of the first inning and following that with a home run of his own in the bottom of the same inning, is undeniably appealing.
The only way this makes sense is if the Rangers have agreed to a contract extension in principle before the trade is announced. To do that will require an overpay on at least a 10-year contract that would make A-Rod’s 10-year, $252 million deal look read like a Goodwill-level bargain.
Anything less than an extension signed, or agreed to, before the trade is announced is a risk that Rangers GM Chris Young can’t take. This would be the dumbest rental since that AirBnB on the Trinity River.
Figure the Rangers will have to send the Angels at least five players, and probably six, to close such a trade. Name a top prospect (not Kumar Rocker), and he will be gone to Anaheim. This includes Ezequiel Duran.
Even with Trout and Ohtani, the Angels are average. Their team needs young talent, which the Rangers’ farm system can offer.
Young has shown, much like his predecessor Jon Daniels, an affinity for bold moves. Going for Sho’ would certainly qualify, and eclipse just about any other move this team has made in about 20 years.
It also doesn’t mean they have to do it.
The Rangers are good enough to be in first place in the AL West without Ohtani.
Are they good enough to win a World Series as presently constructed? Probably not. Those sorts of scenarios are painful crap shoots.
“You’re always looking to improve the club’s needs,” Bochy said. “That’s dictated by injuries. I can tell you (Chris Young) is looking at anything that makes sense.
“I love this club. I am really happy where we are with this club.”
He should be; it’s late July and the Texas Rangers are in first place.
They really don’t need Shohei Ohtani, but my God ... imagine if they got him.
