The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best player in baseball right now in two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
He became a free agent after the 2023 season after six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Naturally, the Ohtani sweepstakes captured the attention of fans and executives around the league alike. It's not every day that you can make a run at potentially the most talented player to ever touch a big league diamond. The Dodgers ultimately won the sweepstakes and have won back-to-back World Series titles since then.
On Thursday, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal dropped a bombshell story and reported that during Ohtani's last season with the Angels, there were serious trade talks to send Ohtani to the Tampa Bay Rays in a deal that would've sent Junior Caminero to the Angels in a package.
"Imagine, if in 2023, Shohei Ohtani had unleashed his two-way prowess for the Tampa Bay Rays, if only for a few months. Imagine if he had been traded for Junior Caminero, who would now be starring at third base for the Los Angeles Angels instead of the Rays," Rosenthal wrote. "A blockbuster involving those players, carrying mammoth implications for both clubs, was seriously discussed before the 2023 trade deadline, according to people briefed on the conversations."
How wild is that? Ohtani wasn't just in trade discussions, but a small-market club made a serious run at him, but a deal wasn't able to get over the finish line.