Los Angeles Angeles superstar Shohei Ohtani is set to be a free agent this winter, and at least some people around baseball think he could earn a contract worth a billion dollars.

"Someone on our team plane the other day mentioned the 'B' word,'' Mets manager Buck Showalter told Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Nighengale then added: "Realistically, executives believe he'll receive between $500 million to $550 million."

There is no player in baseball quite like Ohtani.

He's arguably the game's best slugger, hitting .302 with an MLB-leading 32 homers to go along with 71 RBI, 63 runs and a 1.050 OPS.

But the 29-year-old is also one of the game's best pitchers, going 7-4 this season with a 3.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 100.1 innings across 17 starts.

He's not the sort of player any organization would want to trade. The Boston Red Sox are still the butt of jokes for trading Babe Ruth, 103 years later.

But he's also not the sort of player any organization would want to lose in free agency without getting anything in return. That would be an even bigger disaster.

Per Nightengale, "Teams inquiring about Ohtani have been told that owner Arte Moreno still has every intention of keeping him for the remainder of the season in hopes they can re-sign him as a free agent," though he added that "teams are hoping that Moreno changes his mind if they continue to struggle with three-time MVP Mike Trout out until late August with a broken hamate bone."

Ohtani chose the Angels when he came to the United States to play baseball, and by many accounts he's comfortable with both the organization and living on the West Coast.

The Angels almost assuredly will match any offers Ohtani receives in free agency as well, so it's not as though money will be an issue. The main reason he could bolt is that the Angels, quite simply, don't win.

In his first five seasons, the team never made the playoffs. This year, the 45-46 Angels have a shot, though they currently sit five games back of the final Wild Card berth. With Trout's injury and the team mired in a five-game losing streak with just one win in its past 10 contests, those playoff odds are starting to look bleak.

It's the one factor that could cause Ohtani to leave. But for now, the Angels are banking on re-signing him this winter. If it backfires, it will perhaps be one of the biggest blunders in the history of the sport.