Giants not among Baseball America’s top-five Ohtani suitors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Shohei Ohtani is the talk of the town ahead of the Aug. 1 2023 MLB trade deadline.
The Giants have been one of the many teams rumored to be a potential suitor for the Los Angeles Angels two-way phenom, but Baseball America projects otherwise.
Trading for the Japanese superstar won’t be cheap, and only select teams actually have the package of young big leaguers and top prospects to meet Los Angeles’ asking price. Baseball America doesn’t believe the Giants are one of those teams.
Here are Baseball America’s top five teams with the greatest chance of landing Ohtani:
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Los Angeles Dodgers
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Baltimore Orioles
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Texas Rangers
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Philadelphia Phillies
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Cincinnati Reds
On top of the Giants not making the cut, their biggest rivals own the top spot on the list.
“The Dodgers have the deepest farm system in baseball and can meet any demand,” the article reads. “They have six Top 100 Prospects in RHP Bobby Miller, RHP Emmet Sheehan, C Dalton Rushing, RHP Gavin Stone, C Diego Cartaya and 2B Michael Busch and possess the best collection of pitching prospects in baseball. With Miller and Sheehan in the majors, RHPs Ryan Pepiot, Landon Knack and Stone at Triple-A, RHPs Nick Nastrini, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan and Nick Frasso at Double-A, LHPs Maddux Bruns, Justin Wrobles ki and Ronan Kopp at High-A and RHPs Peter Heubeck and Payton Martin at Low-A, the Dodgers are overflowing with young arms.
“2B Miguel Vargas struggled in his debut but still projects to be an impact hitter long term, and OFs Andy Pages (currently recovering from shoulder surgery) and Josue De Paula further add to the Dodgers position player depth. Angels owner Arte Moreno has publicly expressed his displeasure at dealing with the Dodgers and is unlikely to approve trading his star to an in-market competitor, but from a pure talent perspective, the Dodgers have the most to offer of any team.”
While San Francisco didn’t crack the top five, the Giants were still included in the conversation.
The Giants “sneak into the Ohtani sweepstakes” if other teams don’t present their best offers, the article states, including young players like Luis Matos, Kyle Harrison and Carson Whisenhunt in a potential package.
Accompanying teams among the “others” list are the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Baseball America doesn’t stand alone regarding the skepticism surrounding San Francisco’s ability to land Ohtani via trade. Former Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden doesn’t believe the Giants can put together an adequate package for the 29-year-old — but there’s always free agency.
“They’d love to land Ohtani in free agency this winter, but if he becomes available via trade, I question whether they would be willing to unload their farm system or if they’d even have enough to compete with the other teams that would be pushing for him,” Bowden wrote, in his latest column for The Athletic, adding a trade for Ohtani a “long shot.
“The Giants have worked to build up their system, and to tear it all down for a rental doesn’t seem like something president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi would be willing to do,” Bowden wrote. “Instead, I see their best shot at Ohtani being in free agency.”
Nevertheless, the Giants are expected to make a run at the American League MVP frontrunner, whether that’s through a trade or in free agency.
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