Shohei Ohtani trade could’ve netted Angels serious haul from Dodgers or Yankees

The Yankees and Dodgers both talked about trading for Shohei Ohtani in the summer of 2022, when the Angels were briefly considering dealing him, before owner Arte Moreno pulled the plug on talks.

The Yankees were considered then to have a decent group of young players — led by Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, and also including Jose Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, Trey Sweeney, Luis Gil and Hunter Wesneski — and the Dodgers always have prospects — their group included Miguel Vargas, Bobby Miller, Dalton Rushing, Dustin May and Gavin Lux back then.

The Yankees were apparently willing to consider a trade for Ohtani even after hearing from him on his tour that he couldn’t see himself in New York, but it surely dampened their resolve, even before the Angels killed the whole thing.

Ultimately though, the Padres likely were in the best position to get Ohtani in trade with all the young guys they instead traded for Juan Soto to offer (James Wood, Mackenzie Gore, C.J. Abrams, etc.) plus they had Jackson Merrill. Word is, the Padres would have been willing to offer even more for Ohtani than Soto. Tough to beat that group — especially with the ultra-aggressive GM A.J. Preller, Huntington Station’s own, working it.

Teoscar Hernandez told me he’d love to return to the Dodgers. “One thousand percent,” Hernandez said.

Key Dodgers lefty reliever Alex Vesia (oblique) says he’s “90 percent” to be active for the World Series after missing the NLCS.

Baseball fans built a tribute to the late great Fernando Valenzuela with a makeshift memorial outside Gate A at Dodger Stadium. If you weren’t around for Fernandomania in 1981, you had to be there. It dwarfed even Ohtani mania.