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After droves of secrecy and nameless reporting about secret conferences between Shohei Ohtani and numerous suitors, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts refreshingly got here proper out and informed reporters that his membership not too long ago hosted Ohtani for a go to at Dodgers Stadium (link via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Roberts added that Ohtani is “clearly our prime precedence.” Requested why he was so direct when different golf equipment have gone to nice measures to hide their efforts to barter with Ohtani, Roberts replied (via MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince): “I don’t really feel like mendacity is one thing I do. I used to be requested a query. … It’s going to come back out in some unspecified time in the future.”
The Dodgers have lengthy been considered because the likeliest crew to signal Ohtani. That’s as a result of myriad elements, starting from Ohtani’s prior desire for a West Coast membership (throughout his authentic foray into MLB free company) and the Dodgers’ nearly limitless payroll capabilities, amongst others. The L.A. entrance workplace declined to make designated hitter J.D. Martinez a qualifying provide on the heels of a resurgent 33-homer season, reportedly largely to maintain the DH spot within the lineup clear for a possible run at Ohtani.
Ohtani has drawn curiosity from a big selection of groups, as one would anticipate from probably the most outstanding two-way star the game has ever seen. Over the previous few days, nevertheless, a number of golf equipment have appeared to imagine their probabilities to land Ohtani have shrunk. The Crimson Sox, Mets and Rangers are stated to have shifted their focus to different gamers, whereas only a couple hours in the past it was reported that the Cubs’ optimism in their very own pursuit has “considerably waned.”
The Dodgers presently undertaking for a $157MM payroll, per Roster Resource, with simply shy of $175MM of luxurious tax obligations on the books. That leaves ample room to signal Ohtani with out even reaching the $237MM tax threshold, though subsequent additions following a theoretical Ohtani deal may nonetheless put the Dodgers firmly into tax territory. That hasn’t been a priority for them up to now, nevertheless; the Dodgers have incurred luxurious penalties every year since 2019.
Ohtani is believed to have had conferences with the Blue Jays and the Giants in current days as nicely. Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco and the incumbent Angels are the 4 outstanding names reported to stay within the bidding, though given the cloak-and-dagger nature of Ohtani’s free company, it’s definitely attainable there are different golf equipment nonetheless lurking within the combine to signal him.
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