No Deal: Ranking Best Shohei Ohtani Free Agency Destinations

The Shohei Ohtani trade sweepstakes are over. The Angels’ brass declared that they’d be holding onto Ohtani through the trade deadline despite his looming free agency, asserting themselves as buyers. They made note of that in a big way, acquiring Lucas Giolito and a reliever from the White Sox in exchange for two of the organization’s top prospects. Still on the outside looking in, Ohtani’s future will continue to weigh over the team.

Now that we can officially shift towards his free agency, here are our top five suitors to land Ohtani this winter.

The Dodgers have been the presumptive favorite to land Ohtani via free agency for a while because they’re the Dodgers. Armed with the financial backing to meet and surpass the expected half-a-billion-dollar contract, Ohtani staying in Southern California with the Dodgers makes sense. He’ll be able to compete for a title perennially and further build his national brand by playing on an iconic team. It’s beginning to feel like Ohtani is the Dodgers’ to lose. We’ll see how it turns out, but the Dodgers are in the driver’s seat.

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Sticking in the NL West, the Giants have been searching for their next superstar to get themselves back into the national conversation. In a huge market that could meet his contract demands, San Francisco has been sitting and waiting for years for a superstar. They fell narrowly short of landing Bryce Harper in 2019 and swung and missed last season with Aaron Judge. There is no reason to believe they won’t keep trying with the biggest fish yet. While they don’t offer the same winning appeal as the Dodgers, Ohtani could be intrigued by the Giants’ recent success and a rebuild that seems to be turning a corner.

The belief is that Ohtani would like to stay on the West Coast to be as close as possible to Japan, launching the Seattle Mariners into the realm of possibility. Seattle already had the chance to court Ohtani during this year’s All-Star game festivities, and Mariners’ fans made their wishes known to Ohtani, chanting, “Come to Seattle!” Postgame, Ohtani expressed his love of the city, “Every time I come here, the fans are passionate… It’s very impressive. I actually spent a couple of offseasons in Seattle. I like the city.” That’s enough to get the Mariners’ fans’ hopes up. The Mariners may not have the winning appeal that entices Ohtani, but they check other boxes that make them viable suitors.

Assuming the Angels’ acquisition of Lucas Giolito pays off and they manage to make a postseason run, Ohtani could stay with the Angels. If they miss the postseason again, as they are projected to do, the chances seem to be slim to none that he stays. The Angels have an opportunity to retain Ohtani, but it feels like LeBron James’s free agency in 2010 when he left Cleveland for Miami. LeBron met the small market team but ultimately fled for the big lights. Ohtani’s relationship with the Angels feels eerily similar. Reports are saying that Ohtani wanted to remain with the Halos through the trade deadline, so it shows that he likes being an Angel, but if they miss the postseason as expected, he’s probably gone.

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Despite the consensus that Ohtani feels destined to stay on the West Coast, the Cubs present as an exciting sleeper team. The Cubs were a finalist to land Ohtani when he first came to MLB. While they haven’t had the winning results that would appeal to Ohtani, they have a market where he would become the face of an iconic organization. The Cubs nearly got Ohtani before, so it would be wrong to dismiss them this time.

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