MLB rumors: What stands in the way of a hypothetical Mike Trout trade?

This lede sounds absolutely ridiculous at first glance — but stick with me on this.

During this season, the Los Angeles Angels explored Shohei Ohtani trade options but ultimately decided to hold onto him. This offseason could be the beginning of a dark, dark time in the Angels organization. There's potential that Ohtani, Lucas Giolito, Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk, among others, could walk in free agency. This would leave them with one Top 100 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and a depleted MLB roster.

With Mike Trout signed for the next seven seasons and at age 31, his trade value will slowly begin to go down as the days go by. So, should the Angels explore trading him? What is stopping them?

Well, there are a few things actually. The first one is Trout himself. He has a full no-trade clause, meaning he could shut down any deal without question.

Then, if he is willing to be moved, problems arise with his age, injury history, and his massive contract. How much would a team be willing to give up for a player they're going to owe over $200 million to, who hasn't played 130+ games in a year since 2019?

Now, mind you, Trout is still one of the best players in the game and in the history of the game, when he's healthy. When he's on the field, not many teams would mind paying him his full contract. The trade is highly unlikely at this point, but it's still fun to think about.

MLB rumors: Yankees should take a page (and potentially staff members) from the Braves' book

One day, there are going to be Hollywood documentaries about what the Atlanta Braves are doing right now on the front office side of the sport. They have really revolutionized the game and the business in the game and the results have been incredible.

Not only do they have one of the best teams in recent memory with a ton of All-Stars and hitting stats that seem out of this world, but their entire core is signed for multiple years into the future.

Atlanta has built their living on the long ball, led by Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley.

The Yankees tried to do this exact thing with their team of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo, but it hasn't worked nearly as well. One team is leading baseball in almost every offensive category and the other is out of the playoff picture. New York ended up on the short end of these two teams.

The Yankees should take inspiration and even personnel from Atlanta's front office. Alex Anthopoulos has completely changed the business of baseball and he has his entire front office on board with it. It wouldn't be a bad idea for New York to take a look in the mirror, cut ties with some of their front office and try to hire a few names in Atlanta's front office to sizeable promotions.

MLB rumors: Chicago Cubs could emerge as potential sleepers in Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes

This winter, Shohei Ohtani may be at the center of the biggest free agency decision since Lebron James announced his decision to play in Miami over a decade ago. LeBron James' decision captivated the sports world and Ohtani is likely to do the same, inking his name to a huge contract.

There are a ton of teams being tied to Ohtani, with nearly every team making a sales pitch for him one way or another. But the team that nobody seems to be talking about, that could make a ton of sense, is the Chicago Cubs.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle broke down the unbelievable value of Ohtani in free agency as a two-way superstar. In doing so, he also mentioned the contenders to sign the current Angel in free agency, listing the Cubs as a sleeper in the mix.

One thing of note with the Cubs is their current payroll, where nobody is being paid over $20 million this season, besides Marcus Stroman at $25 million.

This could be seen as a plus and a minus for Chicago. One side is that it means that the Cubs have the money to spend. They're a big market team and after the trade deadline this year, they appear ready to win now. But on the other hand, the lack of spending could mean that Chicago isn't willing to spend the money it would take for Ohtani. But if they are, Ohtani would likely consider Chicago as a destination.

Don't sleep on the idea of Ohtani signing with the Cubs.