Shohei Ohtani, a pitcher and hitter is widely considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time in his short amount of time in the MLB has finally reached free agency and baseball can’t stop talking about where he will potentially sign.
There isn’t a team that doesn’t want to sign him but not all teams have the financial capability to offer him a massive contract like he is expected to be getting this offseason, here are the top five teams from least to most likely to sign Ohtani.
5. The New York Mets: Although the Mets are trying to get Shohei Ohtani who they haven’t tried to sign. They do make sense as a landing spot for Ohtani as they have the money Ohtani wants and there is also another Japanese pitcher on the Mets that could make Ohtani more comfortable knowing he has a fellow countryman.
Steve Cohen, the Mets owner has endless amounts of cash and is willing to spend whatever to have his team compete, but every year they do that they always end up failing or they trade the players they signed a year or two later. With them missing out on the playoffs in the 2023 season they aren’t in the best position to sign him. Being far up on the East Coast doesn’t help their case either.
4. The Chicago Cubs: The Cubs are another aggressive team that almost made the playoffs in the 2023 season when nobody expected them to be as good as they were. They have a lot of cap space opening up and have a great incoming young core to the team.
They are only one-star player away from making it back to the playoffs and playing October baseball once again. Ohtani would fit the star player category they need to be in contention again. Location may be an issue for the Cubs if they want to sign him.
3. The Texas Rangers: Coming off their first-ever World Series victory, the Rangers are in a great position to sign Ohtani if they weren’t located in Texas. They’re in a great position considering they just won the championship which means they’re competing which is what Ohtani wants, but he has always preferred a West Coast team.
The Rangers have already spent a lot of money on shortstop, Corey Seager, and second baseman, Marcus Semien, even though they are pursuing Ohtani it is unclear if their owner will want to spend a lot more on Ohtani so they have a better chance at repeating as World Series champions.
2. The San Francisco Giants: The Giants make a lot of sense for Ohtani to sign with. They were competitive in 2021, they have a decent young team and have money to spend this offseason. Not to mention they are a West Coast team which is something Ohtani prefers.
The only thing holding the Giants back is the fact that after their historical 2021 season, they haven’t competed and have looked like a completely different team since then. Winning is very important for Ohtani so it is questionable whether he’d be willing to wait a year or two until they get the pieces to make a deep run into October.
1. The Los Angeles Dodgers: This is a no-brainer and makes way too much sense for Ohtani to sign with the Dodgers. Not only are they always competitive and winning but they are a West Coast team with a ton of money to spend this offseason. The Dodgers didn’t spend much in the 2022-2023 offseason because they planned on saving that money for Ohtani in the 2023-2024 offseason.
The Dodgers mark off every category on Ohtani’s list which puts this team in an amazing position to sign Ohtani. They are the favorites to sign him, but the biggest question will be if he can change the Dodgers’ postseason ways and help them stop choking every October.
