Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were all still up for grabs Wednesday evening, when Major League Baseball team officials started to head home from Nashville after four days of winter meetings that had a lot more talk than action.
Ohtani, the unique star who excelled as both a pitcher and slugger for the Los Angeles Angels the past six seasons, is expected to receive a record contract of $500 million-plus. His agent, Nez Balelo, didn’t travel to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, preferring to stay away.
While Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged meeting with Ohtani at Dodger Stadium before heading to Music City, other teams were mum. Some fans tried to use flight-tracking programs to determine Ohtani’s whereabouts, and Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins sparked speculation of a get-together at the team’s spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, when he switched a media availability opportunity on Monday to Zoom.
Ohtani has not spoken with reporters since Aug. 9, two weeks before a pitching injury that required surgery and will keep him off the mound in a game until 2025.
The New York Yankees, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016, have been negotiating a trade to acquire Soto from the San Diego Padres. The three-time All-Star can become a free agent after next year’s World Series.