The bidding war for Shohei Ohtani, 29, is heating up among Major League Baseball clubs.

MLB.com reporter John Paul Morosi appeared on the MLB Network program on Friday (June 5) and said, “Ohtani has already been offered a contract worth more than $500 million by several teams. There’s one team we’re not talking about, and that’s the Atlanta Braves,” he said, suggesting that Atlanta could be in the mix for Ohtani.

Ohtani is one of the biggest stars in baseball with a career batting average of .274 (2,483-for-681) with 171 home runs, 437 RBIs and a .922 OPS in 716 career games as a hitter and a 38-19 record with a 3.01 ERA in 86 games (481⅔ innings) as a pitcher. He won the American League MVP unanimously for the first time in 2021 and finished second in MVP voting last year behind Aaron Judge (Yankees), who set an American League home run record (62).

Ohtani earned his second unanimous MVP award of the year after batting .340 (151-for-497) with 44 homers, 95 RBIs and a 1.066 OPS in 135 games as a hitter and 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 games (132 innings) as a pitcher. 먹튀검증 He is the first player in Major League Baseball history to win unanimous MVP honors twice.

Ohtani, who is eligible for free agency after the season, is arguably the biggest name in free agency.

The Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, San Francisco, and Toronto are among the favorites to land him. There is even speculation that Ohtani could sign a $600 million (78.78 billion won) contract, surpassing the $500 million mark for the first time in his career.

Atlanta, which Morosi highlighted as a possible destination for Ohtani, is not a team that can hand out mega-contracts like big-market teams like the Dodgers and San Francisco. However, the fact that Ohtani won’t simply decide where to go based on the amount of money on his contract could be an opportunity for Atlanta.

“He’s never been to the postseason before,” Morosi noted, “and he wants to go to a powerhouse team, which is why the Dodgers have been mentioned so much. In that regard, Atlanta cannot be excluded from the candidates. Atlanta is the most attractive team in terms of strength of schedule outside of the Dodgers.”

Atlanta won the National League East for six straight years from 2018 to this year and reached the World Series in 2021. It spent the postseason again this year with a stellar 105-58 record. “Atlanta is a team that can be a perennial powerhouse,” said Morrissey. They have a solid core of players. They have Matt Olson, A.J. Albies, and reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.”

There are also those who believe that Ohtani could consider the Atlanta connection.

Ohtani is known to favor West Coast teams. However, Moroshi said, “Of course, the location of the club will be taken into consideration. However, Ohtani has spent six years in the major leagues and traveled all over the U.S. He is now familiar with the U.S. and major league culture. And he’s a global star. 카지노사이트 순위 He can travel anywhere,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think Ohtani will be tied to a location.

Major League Baseball is currently in the midst of the Winter Meetings. Moroshi said he expects Ohtani to make a decision soon. Baseball fans around the world are eagerly awaiting to see which team Ohtani will choose.