Will Shohei Otani (29, LA Angels) go to the Chicago Cubs and White Sox in the 2023-2024 FA market?
USA Today’s Bob Nightingale recently summarized Otani’s next destinations as the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Angels. In this situation, Nightingale said on On Tap Sportsnet on the 12th (Korea Standard Time), “There was also the Chicago Cubs on the original list.
However, Nightingale ruled out the Cubs, saying Otani was not very interested in living in the big city. “I’m not interested in New York or anything else,” he said. In other words, the possibility of the Chicago Cubs going to the New York Yankees and the Mets is also low.
The most likely LA is also a big city, but it is in the west. The San Francisco Giants, recently ranked as the No. 1 clutch point, is also a large city on the west coast. In the end, it is expected that the characteristics of Otani, which prefers the western region, will work. This is slightly different from columnist Jim Borden’s recent prediction that he will consider a team with a greater chance of winning over geographical conditions.스포츠토토
In fact, in the case of the Cubs, the power is pretty good. He is second in the wild card race in the National League until the 12th. He ranks sixth in the National League batting average (0.254) and fifth in the team OPS (0.747). The team has a 4.01 ERA, ranking fourth in the National League. He also ranks third in the National League with a 4.06 ERA.
Cody Bellinger, Suzuki Seiya, Ian Hep, and Mike Tuckman from Hanwha in the KBO League are in the outfield, who revived with a one-plus-year, $25 million (about 33.2 billion won) contract from the Cubs this year after being kicked out of the LA Dodgers. There are also good center infielders, Danceby Swanson and Nico Horner. On the mound is left-handed ace Justin Steel, who has the best season of his life.
It’s a winable team that Otani will like, but On Tab Sportsnet said, “The first thing the Cubs need to do in the off-season is to protect the FA Bellinger. I wouldn’t be upset if the Cubs decided not to chase Otani. “If Otani undergoes elbow surgery, there is a very high possibility that he will not be able to take the mound until the middle of the 2025 season,” he said. In fact, staying in Bellinger is an important task for the Cubs.
In the case of the White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf recently publicly said, “We will not participate in any Otani recruitment.” The remarks came from the appointment of Chris Gaetz, the new head of the team, and replaced the head and vice president as they fell to the bottom early this season. The remarks drew criticism from local media and fans, but there has been no change in the position of the owner of the club since then.
The exact thing will be known only when the 2023-2024 FA market is opened. However, at this point, Otani rarely goes to Chicago.