Shohei Ohtani Rumors: Latest From Insider Bodes Well for Dodgers Pursuit of All-Star
Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is heading into his last season in Anaheim before free agency, and the rumor mill is already hard at work thinking about Ohtani’s market ten months from now. One of the possible reasons floated for the Dodgers trying to get under the luxury tax this year is so they’ll have more money lying around to pursue Ohtani next year.
Over at USA Today, MLB insider Bob Nightengale has some thoughts on where Ohtani might end up, and his thoughts seem positive for Los Angeles.
Those close to Shohei Ohtani predict he’ll stay out West when he becomes a free agent simply because of his lifestyle. He rarely ventures out, his friends say, and thoroughly enjoys his privacy.
When he was a free agent coming out of Japan in 2017, he narrowed his choices to seven teams: The Angels, Padres, Dodgers, Mariners, Giants, Rangers and Cubs. The Cubs were the lone finalist not in the NL West or AL West.
While Ohtani’s thinking five years ago has some bearing on his upcoming decision, the big difference between then and now is that teams were subject to the international signing bonus system. That meant teams weren’t able to offer even Ohtani’s fair value, let alone setting themselves apart with a monstrous offer. Last time around, it really was all about where Ohtani wanted to play.
This time, there’s real money involved. Sure, Ohtani chose to stay west when everyone was offering about the same amount; if Mets owner Steve Cohen backs up the money truck, is Shohei really going to turn it down because he wants to stay in the west?
To be clear, that’s not a rhetorical question. Ohtani has proven to be different from any player we’ve ever seen on the field, and he very well could be different off the field, too. He’ll get big offers from teams all over the country. There’s no guarantee the Mets or another eastern team will make the biggest offer, and there’s no guarantee Ohtani will prioritize money over everything else even if they do.
Have you signed up for the Dodgers Nation newsletter yet? Get the latest news, rumors, highlights and more right in your inbox every day! Keep up to date on every single thing involving your boys in blue!
Well if Friedman and Guggenheim don’t make any major moves this year and they don’t win it all then the pressure to sign Ohtani will be huge. The would love to see that pressure put on this organization.
It hasn’t gotten much if any chatter, but if the Angels are out of the playoff running then look for them to attempt to trade Ohtani for practically an entire team that would be playoff ready in 2024. This is where the Dodgers could pick him up in exchange for their top five or ten prospects, and then work towards an extended contract of historical proportion. There would be no competition to deal with during the time they had him locked up in the latter months of 2023.
So already at the max cbt rate they will pay 500 million for 10 years? Not happening