Shohei Ohtani, the most sought-after free agent in MLB history, has hit the open market following six stellar seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Numerous teams have expressed interest in signing the two-way standout, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly eager to have him join the squad.
Ohtani’s intentions for the offseason are still unknown as of this writing. There are no reports indicating that he paid a visit to any particular free agent team.
That seems deliberate, as Ohtani has asked for his free agency discussions to be kept confidential, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan:
The circles will be small and tight if Ohtani’s visits with a team are made public and reported against the team.
It makes sense that Ohtani would not want any of his free agency discussions to be made public, given his preference to avoid the limelight. So far, interested organizations have complied with his requests since they don’t want to jeopardize their chances of signing the exceptional player.
The teams that Ohtani has seen this offseason are unknown, although a recent source said he would finalize a deal before the MLB Winter Meetings in early December.
Ohtani is expected to get a record-breaking contract for more than $500 million. If he would rather test the market once more in an effort to prove his worth as a starting pitcher, he might possibly agree to a short-term deal with a record average yearly salary.
With his second straight unanimous MVP Award, Shohei Ohtani creates MLB history.With all 30 first-place votes, Ohtani was declared the 2023 American League MVP, making history as the first player to win two MVP Awards unanimously. He was runner-up to Aaron Judge, the slugger for the New York Yankees, last year and won his first AL MVP in 2021.
Ohtani had a fantastic hit.304/.412/.654 with 26 doubles, eight triples, 44 home runs, 95 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 599 plate appearances this past season (135 games). He went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, and 11.4 strikeouts per nine in 132 innings pitched on the mound (23 starts).