Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time. Ohtani’s MLB career began in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels before he signed a massive $700 million contract with the Dodgers in 2024.
However, a new report revealed that the Angels almost traded Ohtani to the Tampa Bay Rays.
MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said the Rays and Angels discussed a swap involving Ohtani for star infielder Junior Caminero and shortstop Carson Williams.
“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,” Rosenthal wrote.
But, Angels owner Arte Moreno decided not to move Ohtani and ride things out in the final year of his contract in Anaheim.
The Dodgers then struck it big by signing Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal, although a ton of the money owed to him was deferred until later.
Still, in hindsight, the Angels could’ve moved Ohtani and landed Caminero. The Rays star is just 22 years old and had 45 home runs with 110 RBIs in 2024 while being named an All-Star.
In 2023, however, Caminero played a total of seven games at the big-league level, but he was still a prized prospect in the Tampa Bay organization.
One can only imagine an alternate universe where the Angels traded Shohei Ohtani to the Rays, although the Japanese star still might’ve ended up with the Dodgers in free agency.
