The Seattle Mariners met with Shohei Ohtani and his representatives early on Tuesday (Dec. 5). This meeting was where the Mariners could make a sales pitch that might convince Ohtani to sign with the team. A report by baseball writer Ryan Divish confirmed that the meeting took place, meaning the team has now done all that it can to lure one of the best names in free agency.
Over these past two days, Shohei Ohtani has met with six teams, leaving just a meeting with the San Diego Padres before he likely makes an official announcement about where he will play during the 2018 MLB season. Ohtani has also met with Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants.
Where will Ohtani sign?
The Seattle Mariners don’t really comment on free-agent negotiations, so it is difficult to predict how the meeting went on Tuesday. Likewise, it is also too early to make an informed guess as to which team Shohei Ohtani wants to sign with. There are going to be quite a few MLB rumors over the next few days, especially if information from the seven meetings ends up getting leaked to the media.
A very likely scenario is that fans of these seven teams are going to be in the dark while Ohtani makes a final decision about his career in Major League Baseball. Ohtani already revealed that he doesn’t want to play for the New York Yankees, where he could have made the most money in a signing bonus. He also announced that he wasn’t interested in joining the Boston Red Sox either, removing the American League East contenders from the conversation.
Winter meetings and deadline for signing
The MLB Winter meetings are coming up, which could be a great place for Shohei Ohtani to make an official announcement. He has until December 22 to make a final decision, though, giving him time before he has to reveal the team that has won the bidding process.
The posting cost to sign Ohtani is $20 million, which goes to his former team in Japan. Then the new team has to offer a signing bonus and sign him to a contract for the 2018 MLB season and beyond.
The Seattle Mariners are one of the teams looking to make vast improvements during the offseason in the hopes of finally making it back to the playoffs. In addition to the pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, the Mariners also traded for first baseman Ryon Healy of the Oakland Athletics. The team still has additional holes to fill on the roster, but adding a player like Ohtani might just attract other free agents as well.