Are complaints about Shohei Ohtani's MLB Winter Meetings secrecy fair?

Shohei Ohtani is the top player available in the MLB free agency market this offseason. However, his free agency has been mysterious in a lot of ways.

The most unusual thing about Ohtani's free agency is the fact that it has been kept mostly secret. This has led to frustration among fans and those within the industry, as Ohtani is a generational talent, and his free agency should arguably be generating much more buzz.

Instead, it has been quite the opposite. Ohtani reportedly prefers to keep things relatively quiet, but fans want more rumors. There certainly have been rumors, but teams that leak information will have that held against them.

The most notable piece of information is that Ohtani would like to stay on the West Coast and play for a winning organization. The two-way star never got a chance to be a part of a winning culture during his time with the Los Angeles Angels.

According to Jon Morosi, Ohtani is expected to sign soon.

But are fans frustrations over the Ohtani free agency tour fair?

Are Shohei Ohtani complaints fair?

There are obviously several ways to look at this. On the one hand, Ohtani wants his privacy respected, and that is completely understandable. Free agency can be a stressful period of time. Ohtani has to make the right decision both for himself and his family.

It's clear that he is not taking this process lightly, and he shouldn't. The entire baseball world is waiting to see what will happen with Ohtani, but he does not want to be the center of attention. In some ways, it's very honorable for Ohtani to be honest about the situation and not want to be a distraction. It's also fair for him to not want other teams to talk about the process.

On the other hand, it's hard for reporters to oblige all the time. News updates come and go, and reporters have to be on them. While teams can do everything in their power to not comment on their potential pursuit of Ohtani, reporters and writers have to jump on the opportunity to release updates.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was very public about the team's meeting with Ohtani and said that it went well.

To be fair, Roberts was present during the meeting between the Dodgers and Ohtani's camp and experienced everything first hand. It's always possible that he could have commented on the meeting to use it as a selling point for the Dodgers to do everything they can to land the two-way star. He also could have mentioned the meeting and spoke so highly of Ohtani to show him that the Dodgers truly want the two-time MVP on their roster in 2024.

In that case, media members have to stand ready and push updates when they come. It's simply the nature of the job. Any piece of information surrounding Ohtani at this moment makes for an interesting story. But with that being limited, frustration is palpable among fans.

Again, Ohtani is a generational talent, and he is also a free agent who is set to receive a massive contract with whichever team he chooses. And given that the process seems to be winding down, interest is only growing as the baseball world waits to see where Ohtani will end up.

Ohtani has a right to privacy and to not be the center of attention, but it is also fair for fans to be frustrated with the secrecy of his free agency. There are plenty of teams in on him, and fans of those teams are hoping that by some chance, the best player in all of baseball will chose their team.

It remains to be seen where Ohtani will end up.