Stephen A. Smith believes the Los Angeles Angels need to trade Shohei Ohtani: "This is the modern-day Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth was traded"
Stephen A. Smith took to First Take in a surprise baseball segment to discuss the Los Angeles Angels. The show isn't known for it's baseball coverage, but it had Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo in the studio.
The pair discussed the injury to superstar outfielder Mike Trout, who fractured his hamate bone on Monday. He's expected to be sidelined anywhere from three to seven weeks. It's quite a devastating injury for the Angels as they find themselves in third in the American League West.
Given Trout's injury, many don't believe the Angels can make it to the playoffs now. This led to asking, if the Angels should trade Shohei Ohtani ahead of the trade deadline, and Stephen A. had a fiery response.
"This is the modern-day Babe Ruth ... and Babe Ruth was traded," said Stephen A. Smith.
It's time for the Angels to trade Shohei Ohtani according to @stephenasmith 😳
"This is the modern-day Babe Ruth. ... and Babe Ruth was traded." https://t.co/ZhaOWsgAsR
There's no question that Stephen A. Smith thinks Shohei Ohtani should be traded. The Angels have struggled in the last few seasons, and the return they could get for Ohtani would be huge.
Ohtani is the most complete baseball player the world has seen. Letting him walk away for nothing to explore free agency doesn't sit right with Stephen A. He believes that would be the worst thing the organization could do.
Stephen A. Smith believes the Los Angeles Angels need to get something from Shohei Ohtani
There is no denying how special Shohei Ohtani is. He is hitting .300/.387/.658 with 31 home runs and five triples. He leads the league in slugging percentage, home runs, triples, OPS, OPS+, and total bases.
Ohtani has compiled a 7-4 record with a 3.32 ERA as a pitcher. He's thrown 100.1 innings and has struck out 132 batters. Most recently, he was relieved from his start after going five innings after developing a blister on his throwing hand.
MLB players to hit 10 or more homers in a month and strike out 35 or more batters in a month: 2 (Babe Ruth, Shohei Ohtani)
MLB players to do that in the same month: 1 (Shohei Ohtani)
(via @OptaSTATS) https://t.co/Cw0yNTAn9r
Given this dominance, Stephen A. Smith believes it should be a no-brainer for the Los Angeles Angels to trade Ohtani. Teams would part ways with a ton of top prospects to land him.
Even if the Angels were to make the postseason this year, many around the league believe Ohtani will explore free agency anyways. If he's going to leave, the best thing to do is to get value for him.
The next few weeks are going to be interesting. Given Mike Trout's injury and the trade deadline looming, the front office has some decisions to make.