As it stands, the rumor mill on Shohei Ohtani’s free agency has been pretty mum at best; and for good reason. The two-way superstar has asked teams for assurances that he’ll be able to go through the process of finding his next home for the next however many years, and do so without seeing much, if any negotiations in the media.
While that has yet to transpire — and likely won’t, as teams may have it held against them — there was a substantial update regarding the ongoing bidding for Ohtani and his services. On Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that a trio of teams, including the New York Mets, have begun to turn their attention to other players, despite previously vying for the Japanese superstar. The other two teams? The Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.
According to Passan, that leaves four teams — the Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers — as the clubs are known to still be in on the bidding for Ohtani. As for the San Francisco Giants, who were expected to be among possible suitors for Ohtani, where they stand in the mix of things is currently unknown.
What we do know, though, is that Ohtani would like to find his next home sooner than later. That’s been reported on multiple occasions throughout the offseason, meaning Ohtani could want this entire typing wrapped up by the time the Winter Meetings in Nashville roll around.
In the meantime, it remains to be seen just how much longer we’ll have to wait for Ohtani to make a decision. There likely won’t be any rumblings until he has officially made his choice.
[ESPN]
