The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes haven't been nearly as exciting as we thought it'd be. That's mostly because the reigning AL MVP Award winner has wanted to keep his journey on the open market as private as possible. Although the Winter Meetings are officially over, Ohtani's eventual decision on where he'll sign will surely throw the baseball world into a tizzy.
If you didn't have your coffee yet on Friday morning, you probably don't need it now after a post from MLB Network's Jon Morosi saying Ohtani's decision is "imminent" and could come within a matter of hours.
Source: Shohei Ohtani?s decision is imminent, possibly as early as today. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 8, 2023
He backed up this post on X with an appearance on MLB Network to discuss the situation further. Earlier this week, we heard about a group of four or five teams still in the running for Ohtani. These squads included the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays (and possibly the Chicago Cubs). Could that list of finalists be down to just two?
It's possible according to what Morosi shared in the below video. He said the Dodgers have consistently been viewed as favorites, but the Blue Jays have gained some momentum. While Morosi can't say definitively who is in and out at this point, he certainly makes it sound like the Dodgers and Blue Jays might be the two teams Ohtani is deciding between:
My latest report on Shohei Ohtani, from @MLBNetwork moments ago. @MLB pic.twitter.com/449pQEWx7j
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 8, 2023
Having a resolution here would be huge for multiple reasons. One is we'll get to see just how much money Ohtani gets from the team that signs him, and what kind of records he'll break. Another is it'll hypothetically start to alleviate the bottleneck in free agency. Since he's the top player available, his agreeing to a deal could help jumpstart the rest of the outfield/hitter market.
We've been waiting in anticipation for what feels like forever to see where Ohtani will be playing in 2024 and beyond. While the expectation across the industry has consistently been that he'd eventually sign with the Dodgers, it sounds like things are more up in the air as he nears an official decision.
