This Shohei Ohtani Tidbit Potentially Encouraging For Red Sox

If a team like the Red Sox wants to make an earnest run at Shohei Ohtani this winter, it sounds like it won’t have to clear a hurdle that stood in the way when the superstar first landed in Major League Baseball.

Ohtani, of course, came from Japan and signed with the Los Angeles Angels to begin what has been a tremendous big league career. During the process that led him to the Halos, he reportedly put an emphasis on playing for a West Coast team. Now, as he embarks on what could be the most historic free agent tour in baseball history, it sounds like he won’t be limited to the Pacific time zone.

“After speaking with people around the industry and those more familiar with Shohei’s thinking,” MLB Network’s Jon Morosi said Monday on the network, “the difference between this free agency and the first time that he came to North America is that he’s probably less concerned about geography and more concerned about the quality of the team he’s going to.”

Morosi also acknowledged money will matter, and Ohtani — despite not being able to pitch in 2024 — is going to likely earn the biggest free-agent contract in baseball history. So he’s probably going to end up with a team like Tampa Bay regardless of how good it might be.

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Money plus the ability to build a winning club around Ohtani is going to be vital, and a team like the Dodgers — who can do both while being on the West Coast — is understandably the favorite. However, Morosi said he heard Ohtani was “intrigued” by the Atlanta Braves, illustrating his willingness to move across the country for the right opportunity.

“I do think, yes, there’s an advantage to the Dodgers, but when you look east of the Mississippi (River) or in that general area, you’ve got a team like the Cubs,” the MLB insider said. “… I think those types of ballclubs that are showing a willingness to compete and contend.”

If Ohtani doesn’t have geographical restrictions and the Red Sox are legitimately going to make a push for him, that could make the next few weeks very important for new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Obviously, the Red Sox haven’t been the Braves or even the Cubs the last couple of seasons with two last-place finishes in a row. Their best sales pitch might be to convince Ohtani he will be the centerpiece of a blossoming core that is on the ascent and will perfectly complement the two-way superstar.

It also wouldn’t hurt to make some sort of move before getting an audience with the Japanese phenom to prove to him that they are ready to go “full throttle,” as chairman Tom Werner recently said to bring a winner back to Boston.