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Hypothetical NY Mets trade package for Shohei Ohtani from 4 years ago aged exactly how you'd guess

For even just a year of service to the Mets, this would have felt theft.
ByTim Boyle
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Jul 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) follows through on an RBI sacrifice fly against the New York Mets during the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Jul 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) follows through on an RBI sacrifice fly against the New York Mets during the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Prior to leaving the Los Angeles Angels for the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency, the big buzz around Shohei Ohtani was what it would take to acquire him via trade. He never was dealt. It didn’t stop those who covered teams like the New York Mets from dreaming.

It was October 24, 2022, when SNY’s Danny Abriano put together his best trade package from the Mets in exchange for Ohtani. 

What was life like in late October 2022 for the Mets? Coming off of such a sad ending against the San Diego Padres in the NLWC, nearly everyone was on the table.

This Mets trade package for Shohei Ohtani would have ended up as an all-time robbery

Abriano made pretty much every Mets prospect at the time other than Francisco Alvarez available. His trade was headlined by three top 100 prospects going to the Angels. Brett Baty (18), Kevin Parada (37), and Alex Ramirez (85). The never-happened trade also included two non-top 15 Mets prospects.

Back in 2022, that list wasn’t all that superb. Christian Scott, ranked 25th in the Mets system at the time, would have been the only major loss for the club. Even several within the top 15, Simon Juan, Jaylen Palmer, Joel Diaz, Dom Hamel, and more haven’t done much of anything at the big league level nor do they look poised to do so.

For only a year of renting Ohtani, it would have looked like a big trade at the time. Three top 100 prospects for any singular player is mammoth. And yet, given the choice of those three, we quickly get a reminder of how short-lived the hype is for some of these young players.

Baty has turned into a so-so major leaguer trying to find his footing after several years in the show. He’s more of a utility man which serves a purpose and yet hardly the kind of headline act you’d want in a deal for a Hall of Fame lock even for a single season. He has his use. You give him up without blinking if it means landing a star like Ohtani.

The trade gets especially fascinating with how far Parada and Ramirez both fell. Parada remains essentially a Double-A player who has somehow hit .264 in Triple-A but only .228 in Double-A. However you want to classify him, his ceiling requires a worm crawl. Ramirez was released by the Mets after the 2025 season and managed to hit .277 with 46 stolen bases for the Chicago Cubs for their Double-A team in 2026. Still only 23, was it a change of scenery, coaching philosophies, or just maturity which had him finally looking like the prospect we were told he could be? 

Rarely does a mock trade age perfectly for both teams just as actual deals that went through come out even. If most combinations of a 5-for-1 deal like this occurred absent of Scott being included, it would have been an all-time type of steal for the Mets. More often than not, prospects fall to the wayside. It’s a reminder that the greater risk is often not doing anything.

What we’ll never know is the look of a true Ohtani trade package because he stayed put until free agency. Would the Angels have gotten robbed? You’d think a quantity of prospects, including three top 100 guys, would reward them with something. In this hypothetical, it would have been a far-too-familiar story for the Angels.

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