I just don't see it. Multiple analytical reasons why, but no reason really to get deep into it anymore. Mostly intuitive at this point. Just watching the playoff this year.. we're pretty far off.
Ohtani would jump start us as a a fringe world series contender, probable wild card winner, but it would only be the start. Hes pretty much mandatory if were serious about this thing.
If not, we're fooling ourselves. As a fanbase I think we all know this deep inside. I think the FO knows it, and the players know it.
The team needs to face reality head on and decide whether its 'truly' serious about building a contender, and if not it needs to make the emotional difficult decisions necesarry to build a future contender. As a fan of this team, I don't think I've ever seen the team really face this question about itself (even in their good years).