The Atlanta Braves have fizzled out of the postseason in each of the last two years. Despite that, it's hard not to be excited about the organization's future. It would only get brighter if they find a way to land two-time AL MVP Award winner Shohei Ohtani.
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The two-way superstar will be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery during the 2024 season. However, Fox Sports was one of multiple outlets to report that Ohtani should be able to hit without restrictions by opening day. So even though his current trip to free agency doesn't include him immediately pitching and hitting for his new team, the pursuit of his services is serious and very expensive.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the bidding for Ohtani's services has already eclipsed $500 million and could get close to $600 million. Only a handful of teams are still legitimately in the running, especially with a couple withdrawing from the sweepstakes late last week.
While at MLB's winter meetings in Nashville, MLB Network's Jon Morosi shared an interesting report. He not only said Ohtani could make his decision within the next week, but we should also be keeping an eye on the Braves more than we have in this process so far.
"The Braves are a team that we cannot overlook in the Ohtani sweepstakes."
- @jonmorosi on #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/HUYruT3o9c
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 4, 2023
Within this report, it was noted that one of the things at the top of Ohtani's list is the ability to contend and to do it consistently. That's something the Braves have done over the past half-decade. Atlanta has won six straight NL East titles, won the 2021 World Series, and registered 100-plus regular-season victories in each of the past two seasons. Oh, and they have an enviable core group of young players who are mostly under team control for the remainder of this decade.
So, yeah, it's not crazy to see why Ohtani would be interested in the Braves. And every team wants someone like Ohtani on their roster, even a roster loaded with young and proven talent. We'll see soon enough just how serious of a player Atlanta is in these sweepstakes.
