MLB Rumors: Giants may have made a fatal mistake in Shohei Ohtani chase

The San Francisco Giants may have met with Shohei Ohtani last weekend, per Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. Ohtani has also followed Logan Webb, Giants pitcher, on Instagram. Could a move to the Bay be looming?

The San Francisco Giants whiffed on two stars last offseason, Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa. The former was from northern California but instead stayed with the New York Yankees. The latter didn't pass a physical, and thus re-signed with the Minnesota Twins instead.

If there's one team Ohtani's camp demands, it's complete silence. Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo, is private in nature and demands the same from organizations potentially interested in his top client. In an article written by The Athletic, it was reported that Balelo may penalize teams which leak information to the media:

If Slusser's reporting is true -- and Balelo's team can confirm the information was leaked by someone with the Giants -- they may have shot themselves in the foot.

Should the San Francisco Giants be favored to land Shohei Ohtani?

The Giants are certainly in the mix for Ohtani, as they're in desperate need for their next star. Ohtani would be able to stay on the west coast and make the multiple-hour journey north to San Francisco, an organization that has won several World Series in recent memory. The only thing hindering the Giants pursuit is that they'd likely have to add more than just Ohtani to make the leap from the middle of the NL West standings to postseason contender.

While San Francisco did reportedly meet with Ohtani, they will not be alone in their pursuit. The Cubs, Dodgers, Angels and more are interested in Ohtani, and his price tag could flourish to as high as $600 million when all is said and done.

The Giants are willing to pay that price tag, it would seem, assuming they didn't make a fatal mistake by leaking information Ohtani's team doesn't want out there.