As the beat writer for the OC Register, Jeff Fletcher has more access to the Angels than any other writer. Which means he also has unprecedented access to Shohei Ohtani. Jeff’s recently completed book on Ohtani hits the shelves Tuesday, but you can get one early and we’ll be giving away a copy here on CtPG.
For all things Angels, be sure to follow @JeffFletcherOCR on twitter. For more information on the book and his book signing schedule, check out jefffletcherwrites.com That link will be updated as more signings are scheduled.
Here’s the chat, I hope you enjoy it.
To get your advanced copy of the book, join Jeff at a book signing on Sunday at the Arvida Book Company in Tustin, located at 115 Main Street in Tustin.
To buy a copy of the book, go to Amazon or preferably a local book store.
To win you copy, follow the contest instructions at the end of the video.
We can’t lose Ohtani, he’s too valuable as a top 3 hitter and top 1 pitcher for us. There is no prospect/trade return that will match his value. That’s not even getting into his commercial and national market value.
… but what if it is just for 1 year?
And you can get 4 guys, each for 3 or 4 years of control…?
If it’s impossible to extend, you do what you gotta do. But it will be 4-5 years of rebuilding best case scenario if he leaves. That’s assuming the team properly scouts and evaluates talent over that span.
Wow. Jeff Fletcher – keeping it real and dispelling any “if I were GM” thoughts.
The biggest % he gives is Thor at 50%. Everyone else – nope.
Frankly – I found this interview a bit depressing.
Ha ha. I think Jeff is much more grounded, I’m more optimistic, and the reality is in the middle.
Thor is on an expiring contract and can help most contenders. I say he’s gone, Jeff says 50%, split the difference probably.
I agree with Fletcher that trading Ohtani is not a good move. But, of course, if you cannot re-sign him, then it is better to get something for him versus watching him walk away.
Yikes. The problem with what I see a lot of people saying, is that I don’t believe signing Ohtani will be our decision. I think Ohtani has heavily suggested his hand already… he wants to play for a winner. And we sure aren’t one. And jumping from our 78(?) wins this year to the playoffs next year…. yeah, have fun trying to promise Ohtani that so he’ll sign.
So if Ohtani is probably going to walk, THAT is why we trade him now. We must. Having him for one more year isn’t honestly worth it. He can bring us too many good pieces.
Now if I’m wrong, and Ohtani can be lured by a big blank check and that’s all, then OK. But remember we may be stuck with the top-heavy .500 team for years because of that too… we’ll just have to see I guess.
Thanks for the interview Jeff & Jeff.
at 13:07 he mentions Bill Plunkett. suddenly thought of this famous Soth quote:
https://twitter.com/halosheaven/status/724088177137311744
I hope Ohtani, if he does re-sign, has a list of useful demands that the team has to fulfill with regards roster construction and baseball operations so that he’d have a winning team around him in reasonable time. (No, I’m not expecting anything like that in real life)
This was a really cool interview!! I like your idea of localizing events (ASG or otherwise… kershaw to trout, putting Ohtani in as AL SP 👏🏼👏🏼)
Whatever that bad quote is from the old old angels GM about signing 2 pitchers to equal 1 Nolan Ryan applies to trading Ohtani. Pay the man, blank check (who remembers that 90s movie?)
I’m not good at fan posts. My favorite Shohei moment is simply him playing baseball. I feel like a kid watching him play. He has fun, a personality, determination… the sound of a ball leaving his bat or snapping the catchers glove (100mph K on pitch 96 last night?! In the same game he TRIPLED). The guy is mesmerizing, so much so I picked up my kid and brought him to the HRD and All Star game last year (I thought going in 2010 here was going to be a highlight). Doing the same this year! Shohei makes baseball fun for me, gets me quality time with my family, and like last night, it creates opportunities to meet fellow Angels fans!
Can’t trade Ohtani. Can’t trade Trout. Ward has limited trade value. So we’re going to suck for many more years. Thanks Jeff
Ohtani is definitely rounding into ace form