Guardians fans reminded of Junior Caminero mistake with old Shohei Ohtani trade rumor

In July 2023, the Los Angeles Angels were at a crossroads. While they ended July with playoff odds of just 16%, Angels’ ownership decided to operate as buyers at the deadline instead of trading Shohei Ohtani ahead of his impending free agency. 

That move ended up backfiring, as the Angels fell out of playoff contention and ended up placing most of their roster on waivers (which ended up being the Guardians’ gain). 

But before that happened, the Angels were in serious talks to trade Ohtani to the Rays for a prospect package headlined by none other than.. former Guardians prospect Junior Caminero. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal published a story detailing the aborted trade talks on Thursday morning. 

That’s right. A little less than two years after the Guardians traded Caminero to the Rays in exchange for Tobias Myers, he was set to be the main trade return for the greatest baseball player of this generation. 

Just in case we needed another reminder of how much a mistake the Guardians made by trading Caminero. 

Junior Caminero could have helped the Rays get Shohei Ohtani

According to Rosenthal, the move was “seriously discussed” ahead of the trade deadline before Angels owner Arte Moreno nixed the deal. Ohtani ended up finishing the season with the Angels before signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in free agency. 

Meanwhile, Camerino became the top prospect in baseball before blossoming into an All-Star last season. He’s gotten off to a strong start this season and has already mashed 13 home runs. 

While we’ve already written ad nauseam about how much of a mistake the Guardians made by trading Caminero, Rosenthal’s reporting adds a bit of an interesting wrinkle given how much that trade would have changed the fabric of the American League.

The biggest ripple effect would have come with Caminero making the trek out to the West Coast. The Angels have one of the worst third base situations in baseball (as we saw last week), and Camerino would’ve been an obvious upgrade. It also would have taken some talent away from the Rays, though it’s fair to assume they would have found a way to replace Caminero’s production in some way.

Thinking about that deal also opens up a fun ‘what if’ Pandora’s Box for Guardians fans. 

Not only would the Guardians have missed out on a chance to benefit from the Angels’ waiver wire fire sale (which didn’t end up having a huge impact on the team’s future), it also likely would have removed any opportunity the Guardians would have had to trade for Kyle Manzardo. 

Instead of taking the big swing for Ohtani, the Rays decided to trade Manzardo (then a prospect) to Cleveland in exchange for Aaron Civale, which has turned into one of the best deals in recent Guardians history. 

While the Angels and Rays never linked up for a deal involving Ohtani and Caminero, thinking about the ramifications of the trade is still a fun rabbit hole to go down (even if it offers a reminder of one of the worst trades in Guardians history).

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow