Rays fans are thanking Angels, Arte Moreno for turning down crazy Shohei Ohtani trade

We're not used to hearing the Tampa Bay Rays being on the acquiring side of a blockbuster deal, but according to recent reports, they nearly landed one of the league's biggest fish back at the 2023 trade deadline. That's right, the Rays were sniffing around Shohei Ohtani.

The proposed deal would have included Junior Caminero, Carson Williams, plus some lesser talent, per Ken Rosenthal. If the deal had come to fruition, it would have been looked back upon as one of the biggest, most mind-boggling deadline moves in MLB history.

Shockingly, it wasn't the Rays who balked. They were shockingly willing to take on the prorated amount of the $30 million salary Ohtani was making in his final year of arbitration. The club was all-in, believing Ohtani would make the Rays World Series favorites.

Ironically, had the trade been consummated, it may have been Ohtani the pitcher, rather than Ohtani the hitter, who made the greatest impact, at least temporarily, as Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen had both been lost for the season.

So while the Rays were gung-ho, it was the Angels, specifically mercurial owner Arte Moreno, who shut things down. The Angels at the time were 56-51, hanging around the playoff race despite having a lot of needs. When Moreno nixed the trade, the Angels became conservative buyers and then promptly lost 19 of 26 games in August.

Moreno then refused to make a competitive offer to Ohtani in free agency, citing the costs of Mike Trout's extension and Anthony Rendon's ridiculous contract on his books. Given what the Rays were offering, not breaking the bank to retain Ohtani made him look like a fool. Tampa, however, owes him a huge debt of gratitude.

Without Arte Moreno's stubbornness, the Rays would've upended the franchise by trading for Shohei Ohtani

At the time of the proposed deal, Junior Caminero was a high-potential 19-year-old in Double-A. Now, he's already considered one of the best players in all of MLB. He still doesn't turn 23 until July 5, and is really just scratching the surface of his otherworldly potential, despite clubbing 45 dingers a year ago.

Williams, meanwhile, has yet to live up to his lofty prospect status. With that said, he's only played 41 major league games, which is nowhere near a representative sample size. His potential is still sky-high with awesome fielding skills and tremendous power from a position that isn't known for its big boppers.

Regardless of what happens with Williams and his development, this deal would have been a loss. That's because of how good Caminero has become and how cheap he is now and for the foreseeable future. That July, he was looking ahead to six full years of team control, and now that he's emerged as a superstar, he's perhaps the best bargain in baseball.

Trading him for a rental, and we know that there's no way the Rays could have retained Ohtani in free agency, would have destroyed the foreseeable future for Tampa. Without their cornerstone, it's tough to envision the Rays contending as they are now, leading the AL East through 48 games.

Tampa rarely mishandles a young asset, but they were ready to do so with Caminero and Williams. If they had, they'd truly be hurting now after Ohtani bolted to the Dodgers, which, if we're being honest, was always going to be his final destination.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow