Yankees’ mock trade for Shohei Ohtani from ‘The Athletic’ is too good to be true

Ummm … call the Los Angeles Angels right now if this is actually a remote possibility? Though their general manager said Shohei Ohtani won’t be traded this offseason, fans aren’t going to rule anything out until Opening Day 2023.

The New York Yankees have been a rumored destination for Ohtani if he were to be made available, but what’ll it take? He’s making an insane $30 million in 2023 before hitting free agency next November. What’s the return package in such a hypothetical deal? The two-way player’s salary certainly complicates things.

Recently, The Athletic took a stab at doing mock trade packages and selected the nine teams that were either best-equipped to make a deal or in need of a player as impactful as Ohtani. The Yankees were obviously one of them.

In the piece (subscription required), baseball writer Andy McCullough pitched a package of Gleyber Torres, Jasson Dominguez and Oswald Peraza heading to Anaheim in exchange for Ohtani.

We doubt the Angels would sign off on that, but if it’s even a remote possibility, general manager Brian Cashman needs to be exhausting every option to make this happen.

The Athletic pitched a Yankees-Angels trade for Shohei Ohtani

The Yankees have the farm system depth (and major league depth) to absorb these losses. Cashman just said this week that Volpe figures to be in the mix for the starting shortstop job in 2023. Torres was already dangled at this year’s trade deadline and Volpe or Peraza weren’t yet at the MLB level, so they were clearly willing to make that subtraction.

As for Dominguez, that’d certainly affect the future outfield picture with Harrison Bader hitting free agency after 2023, but the Yanks also have Everson Pereira, who is rocketing his way up the farm system.

Two years of Torres and six years of Dominguez and Peraza for one year of Ohtani? Doesn’t sound like a fair swap, but if the Yankees win a World Series or are able to keep Ohtani beyond 2023, then it’d be considered a resounding victory for New York. Even without winning a WS or extending Ohtani, though, you’re getting the best player on the face of the planet for one solid major leaguer and two unproven commodities?

Yeah, it’s smart to do this regardless of the context. Should the Yankees even consider parting with some of their top assets, a target of Ohtani’s ilk needs to be on the other side of the discussion. If Cashman’s good at anything, it’s not overpaying in trades, so fans can trust he’ll either minimize risk in other deals or chase the All-Star targets when his most valuable young players are being requested.

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