So many jokes here, especially because this is coming from Bob Nightengale, who if you didn’t know, has to be the biggest mush in baseball, but apparently there are some MLB executives who believe that the Chicago Cubs will be a sleeper team to sign Shohei Ohtani in free agency.
Cool! But, I mean, I can’t really get excited over these types of reports in April and well, I’d prefer if the Cubs were labeled as a team that will do everything it can to sign Ohtani instead of being an under the radar option for the Japanese superstar.
Here’s what Nightengale wrote in USA Today.
Yet, the sleeper in the Ohtani free-agent frenzy, several baseball executives predict, are the Chicago Cubs.
They were the only team outside the AL West and NL West that were on Ohtani’s original list when he left Japan six years ago, and certainly, they have plenty of money stored up to pay Ohtani whatever he desires.
“That’s the team no one talks about,’’ one AL executive said. “I’m telling you, that’s the team to watch out for. I could easily see him going there. We’ll see what happens, but that’s my call.’’
There’s no question the Cubs are at least going to have talks with Ohtani once he becomes a free agent following the 2023 season. However, if we’re being realistic here, the Cubs don’t really have a track record of going all out for the best free agents available.
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Here’s a list of the biggest free agent contracts in Cubs history.
Alfonso Soriano: 8 years, $136 million (2006-07 offseason)
Jon Lester: 6 years, $154 million (2014-15 offseason)
Jason Heyward: 8 years, $184 million (2015-16 offseason)
Yu Darvish 6 years, $120 million (2017-18 offseason)
Dansby Swanson: 7 years, $177 million (2022-23 offseason)
Time will tell how good Dansby Swanson will be at shortstop with the Cubs, but he was widely regarded as the fourth best free agent at his position this past offseason, when Trea Turner signed a $300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, Xander Bogaerts agreed to a $280 million contract with the San Diego Padres and Carlos Correa eventually re-signed with the Minnesota Twins for a guaranteed $200 million.
Yes, the Cubs have had high payrolls under the Ricketts ownership, but fans still have not seen the franchise commit to one of these mega contracts.
And we all know that Ohtani is going to sign, what many believe will be, the largest free agent contract in MLB history. Yet, this is a reminder that as a Cubs fan, you should be pounding the table for ownership to go all out for the best player in the sport. And while I’m skeptical that the Cubs would be one of the teams to approach Ohtani with a record-breaking contract, I’m also not going to freak out when Jon Heyman says there’s no chance of it happening either.
Not that this needs to be said, but I mean, if there was ever a player who you would want your team to pay all the money, it’s without a question Shohei Ohtani.
Anyway, yes, once free agency gets underway in November and the first report comes out about the Cubs meeting with Ohtani, I will indeed freak out. Until then, I, like you, will continue to be amazed from afar because Ohtani truly is a baseball unicorn.
At the very least, the Cubs should sign him simply to save Ohtani from whatever the hell keeps going wrong with the Los Angeles Angels.
