The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes are heating up and the Giants are one of the many teams who likely will be interested in acquiring the two-way superstar should he become available prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
After MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Friday that the Angels now were considering trade offers for Ohtani, who team owner Arte Moreno had said before the season would not be traded, plenty of speculation began to swirl regarding potential landing spots for the American League MVP frontrunner.
Former MLB first baseman and current FOX Sports analyst Eric Karros said prior to the broadcast of the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets game that Ohtani will in fact be playing in the postseason for the first time in his career and that it will be with none other than the Giants.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"He's going to play in the postseason, he has to play in the postseason," Karros said. "The Angels need to trade him, if they don't, they're doing a disservice to the organization. Now you want me to take it the next step further, who's he going to be playing for? He's going to be playing for the Giants, that's who he's going to be (playing for)."
Karros, coincidentally, played 12 seasons with the Dodgers and believes the Giants trading for Ohtani makes sense and that the Angels would welcome an opportunity to spite their cross-town rivals.
"It makes all the sense in the world, they have the wherewithal to do it, then they get him for a couple months to try and court him so they can try and sign him in free agency," Karros added. "It makes all the sense, and you don't think that the Angels will want to trade him to San Francisco to spite the Dodgers?"
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Trading for Ohtani certainly would cost the Giants a historic haul of prospects, with no guarantee that the 30-year-old will re-sign as a free agent in the offseason.
Is the risk worth it for the Giants?