Shohei Ohtani is, by far, the best and most complete player available in free agency.
He has dominated the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, he has dominated the World Baseball Classic, and he has dominated MLB for years now.
The former Los Angeles Angels star is likely to sign the richest contract in the history of baseball, and this is without counting on him to pitch in 2024 because of his elbow injury.
Teams will line up for a chance to sign him: the Texas Rangers, the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the two Los Angeles teams (Dodgers and Angels), and the San Diego Padres are expected to be suitors, plus several others.
However, you could potentially add another squad to that list: the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves are not a team that hands out enormous deals with frequency.
In fact, they often work magic and find cheap extensions and deals with top players.
Will they be willing to make an exception for Ohtani?
We don’t know if Atlanta is interested, but Ohtani seems to be.
“Shohei Ohtani is reportedly ‘intrigued’ by the possibility of playing for the #Braves, per @jonmorosi. Morosi notes Ohtani’s priority is playing for a contender in 2024 and beyond and few (if any) teams are set up to contend long term than the Atlanta Braves,” MLB Deadline News tweeted.
Shohei Ohtani is reportedly “intrigued” by the possibility of playing for the #Braves, per @jonmorosi
Morosi notes Ohtani’s priority is playing for a contender in 2024 and beyond and few (if any) teams are set up to contend long term than the Atlanta Braves. pic.twitter.com/he7AB9vuQp
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) November 13, 2023
Ohtani is said to be prioritizing winning over anything else.
Yes, the contract will be important, but signing with an organization set to compete in present and future might be more important to him.
The Braves are set to contend for at least several more years, and have lots of young MLB stars such as Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, and more.
They are already betting favorites to win the World Series next year, but adding Ohtani to that core would make them a true powerhouse of potentially historic proportions.
They won 104 games without Ohtani, just imagine what they can do with him.
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