Your lingering Hot Stove queries have been addressed.
The 2023 Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, came and went with little activity, continuing what has been a relatively quiet offseason. However, Wednesday’s blockbuster trade of Juan Soto from the Padres to the Yankees could be a sign that things are about to heat up.
Shohei Ohtani, the reigning American League MVP and one of the biggest free agents in baseball history, remains unsigned. So does Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a 25-year-old Japanese ace who has won the Eiji Sawamura Award for the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball for the past three years.
There’s also center fielder Cody Bellinger, closer Josh Hader, left-hander Jordan Montgomery, designated hitter J.D. Martinez, and third baseman Matt Chapman, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner.
In fact, all but four of the players from MLB.com executive reporter Mark Feinsand’s Top 25 free agent rankings at the start of the offseason are still available, with only Aaron Nola (No. 5), Sonny Gray (No. 7), Eduardo Rodriguez (No. 12), and Jeimer Candelario (No. 22) agreeing to contracts so far.
What are the most important storylines to keep an eye on?
1. When (and where) will Ohtani sign his contract?
And so we wait, perhaps not for much longer. Ohtani is said to have met with several teams recently, and MLB Network insider Jon Paul Morosi stated on Friday that a “decision is imminent, possibly as early as today.”
While the Dodgers have long been considered the favorites, that status may be changing. On MLB Network, Morosi stated that “momentum has built for the Blue Jays” over the last week, adding, “In the last several days, the Jays have certainly improved their standing.”
The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, Angels, and Cubs are thought to be the finalists for the 29-year-old, and the bidding could reach $600 million by the end of it all.
2. The market’s reaction once Ohtani is no longer on the board.