Dodgers News: Mookie Betts Chimes in on Shohei Ohtani Rumors, Possible Future in LA
We’re now 10 days and counting until Ohtani deadline day. Shohei Ohtani rumors are the number one point of topic all around baseball media and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone on a baseball diamond that doesn’t have their own thoughts on the Angels superstar. For the Dodgers, Mookie Betts is the closest guy you’ll find on the roster with a star power close to Ohtani’s.
That means he’s a great guy to share his thoughts on the top trade target for every contending team in baseball.
Betts might actually be the perfect guy to speak on the Ohtani saga. He’s been the headline maker before. His contract status with his former team, the Boston Red Sox, was one of the bigger storylines of the last half decade of baseball. Boston offered him a contract extension in the $300 million range back in 2019 but he turned it down. Shortly after, he became the best available player on the trade market.
Reports say he was nearly traded to the Dodgers at the deadline in 2019. He was sent to LA in a blockbuster deal days before spring training 2020.
Mookie knew the writing was on the wall then. And, with the Ohtani sweepstakes, he seemingly feels the writing is on the wall for the Angels. Betts joined Scott Braun, Todd Frasier, and former Boston teammate Brock Holy on a recent edition of Foul Territory’s “FT Live” where he opened up on the difficult decision Anaheim is facing.
“I don’t see how he doesn’t get traded. But to the [Angels owner Arte Moreno’s] point, like, I can’t be the one that traded the best player maybe to ever play the game, right? But… I feel like you’ve got to trade him. And, whoever gets him, they’re instantly better. They’re instantly playoff bound — that’s how good he is. It’s super neat to watch one of the best players in the game play at the top of their abilities.”
Via Foul Territory on YouTube
That seems to be the consensus feeling on Ohtani and his future with the Angels. They should trade him… but how do you trade the best player in baseball? Clubs all around the sport are putting together their best trade packages for the two-way star. Everyone is just waiting for the green light — or the white flag — from Moreno and the Halos.
Latest Ohtani Rumors
- Dodgers Analyst Believes LA Should Pass on Shohei Ohtani
- Dodgers ‘Aren’t Completely Eliminated’ as Trade Partner to Get Shoehi Ohtani, Says Insider
- Insider Suggests 6-for-1 Trade Package for Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani is a free agent after the season and if they don’t trade him now, they risk losing him for nothing more than a draft pick in 2024. The feeling around the industry is that the Dodgers are more likely to be in on Shohei then rather than now when it would come at the cost of a handful of prospects.
On Foul Territory, Brock Holt dropped the bomb question on Mookie before the segment wrapped.
He’s going to be fun to play with next year, isn’t he?
“We’ll see… We’ll see, we’ll see.” Betts said “…he’s buying all the dinners, that’s for sure.”
Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
