MLB rumors: Insider drops huge news on Shohei Ohtani decision timeline

The widely-held expectation is that Los Angeles Angels free agent superstar Shohei Ohtani will announce where he is playing baseball next season over the weekend. He has been sensational for the better part of a decade now with the Halos, but has no postseason appearances to show for himself whatsoever. The Angels are among the handful of teams who are still somewhat in on landing the MLB phenom.

The three franchises Ohtani has been mostly closely tied to outside of returning to the Angels are the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays. There is apparently at least one other mystery team in the mix for him. That smells like the Atlanta Braves, but we have no earthly idea because nothing leaks out of Alex Anthopoulos' front office, nor out of Ohtani's camp. He is no Dave Roberts, man.

So while the baseball world collectively lathers itself up into a frenzy over the Ohtani decision, Jon Morosi of the MLB Network believes we are getting news on where Ohtani is going, possibly as soon as Friday. It would be a Friday news dump for the ages, but what a great way to go into one of the last few weeks before Christmas. It will give your mom and dad plenty of time to buy a new Ohtani shirsey.

This could be complete hogwash though, as nobody really knows what Ohtani's camp is thinking.

Of course, Morosi is the same reporter who said Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease was about to be traded late last month, possibly to his hometown Braves. That could still happen, but come on...

Clearly, baseball reporters are grasping at straws and firing out hot air about all things Shohei Ohtani.

MLB insider projects Shohei Ohtani will sign before the end of the day

Look. Ohtani is going to do whatever he wants to do. There is no sales pitch that is going to work on him other than the consistent winning your franchise has done lately. It is the biggest reason why he is probably leaving the Angels, as they have somehow wasted Ohtani and Mike Trout's athletic primes with no postseason success to show for it. This is also why some of the suitors don't make any sense.

The Blue Jays have been a fringe contender since 2020, but have not gotten over the hump just yet. They might be able to soon, but selling yourself as a franchise on the come-up to a superstar who just wants to make championships does not seem like a perfect fit. The Giants won a ton before Ohtani first came to America. Over the last decade, they have been slightly better than mediocre in the NL.

And we have arrived at the Dodgers, and maybe the Braves. I would have said the Dodgers were the presumptive favorite to get him because they could provide Ohtani winning and not having to move. Then again, Roberts possibly broke the golden rule about Ohtani like it is Fight Club or something. I still think the Dodgers can land him, but I am not certain on that happening anymore, but we shall see.

As far as the Braves are concerned, that would be cool, but when has Anthopoulos ever paid a gross premium for starting pitching? Ohtani is the outlier and the exception, but doesn't AA still have to find a way to pay Max Fried before next offseason? Again, the Braves check a lot of the boxes the Dodgers do, but it is not in their nature to be all-in on a marquee free agent or not since Greg Maddux.

For whatever reason, I feel the Giants could be the team to beat in this. They've been the least noisy.