Well, over the course of one hour Ohtani news attempted to break twitter. With news being spewed all over the internet, Ohtani’s intentions became evidently clear.
First, news broke that only were the Giants and Mariners being considered early favorites, the Yankees were notified they were no longer being considered.
That’s right, Shohei Ohtani straight up said “Nah” to the Yankees.
Sources: Shohei Ohtani continues to narrow the field for his meetings next week. The New York Yankees are out. The San Francisco Giants are one of the finalists. The Seattle Mariners also are in.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 3, 2017
Twitter quickly exploded as news tumbled out that Ohtani was leaning heavily towards small market teams located on the west coast. Likely due to the Asian cultural affiliated with cities like Seattle and San Francisco.
But just we all started to assume the Cubs were likely the next team to be named as ‘out’ on Ohtani, Mike Berardino from the Pioneer Express tweeted this.
Sources briefed on Ohtani cutdown tell me "heavy West Coast" flavor to final list. #Cubs a possible exception along with SEA, SF, SD and both LA clubs.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) December 3, 2017
Shortly after Ken Rosenthal gave more clarity on the situation.
#DBacks also out on Ohtani, per source. Teams that have yet to acknowledge outcome include #Cubs, #Angels, #Rangers, #Padres. Possible indication they’re in; not confirmed.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2017
So it doesn’t look fantastic for the Cubs chances with Ohtani, they are not quite dead in the water. Looking at the rest of the teams on the list, outside of maybe the Dodgers, they are the best team on paper remaining.
#Cubs, #Rangers, #Rays could be among the “exceptions” … https://t.co/z5Qkgl5uIb
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 4, 2017
Not surprisingly, but when Sports Mockery asked an industry source the response that “I heard they haven’t been told they are out yet.”
Take that as you will, the good news is that the Cubs are still alive in the Ohtani sweepstakes for now. With things starting to pick up with Ohtani, that also means talks with other Cubs free agent targets are likely going to progress soon as well.
If the Cubs are officially eliminated, expect their attention to swing towards Alex Cobb and the reliever market. But for now, all eyes are on Shohei Ohtani.
UPDATE: The Cubs were officially confirmed as one of the seven teams Ohtani plans to meet with in person this week.
The seven teams that will meet Ohtani, confirmed to The Athletic from sources: #Dodgers; #Angels; #Padres; #Mariners; #SFGiants; #Rangers; #Cubs. Every other club is out.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2017
