Report: Cubs in final group for Shohei Ohtani

by Tony Crumpton - Senior Editor - Mon Dec 04 08:25:18 GMT-05:00 2017

Shohei Ohtani is the Japanese version of a young Babe Ruth.

The Cubs have made the final cut for his services according to multiple reports on Monday morning.

Ohtani's final list of ballclubs included the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mariners, Giants, Rangers, and Cubs. Ohtani's representatives are more interested in West Coast teams with smaller markets but the Cubs and the Rangers still made the cut for an in-person meeting. Officials from the seven teams will head to Los Angeles this week to do their sales job with Ohtani.

The Nippon Ham Fighters right-handed pitcher/left-handed slugging star will have until Dec. 22 to sign with a major league team. His deal will only be allowed for a minor league contract using team's international signing-bonus pool money.

If Ohtani would have waited two more years (age of 25) until he came over to the major leagues, he would have been made around $250 million instead of the estimated $3 million on the table this upcoming season.

Nippon will get a $20 million posting fee for transferring their player internationally.

Cubs Insider David Kaplan reports that Theo Epstein is going hard after him.

"Theo and Jed are being incredibly creative with their pitch. They’ve thought of everything. And I mean everything. Still going to be tough to land him but they are in there hard."

This is a 23-year old prodigy that can throw 102.5 MPH and hit titanic homers over 500 feet. Just imagine the versatility that Joe Maddon would take advantage with him in the lineup on a daily basis. Think Travis Wood but just 1000% better and younger.

In 2017, Ohtani batted .332 with eight home runs in 65 games. For his professional career, he has hit .283 with 48 homers and 166 RBIs in 403 games. As a pitcher during his career, he has a 42-15 record with a 2.52 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.

Available budgets for remaining Ohtani finalists:

Rangers ($3.53m), Mariners ($1.57m), Angels ($1.315m), Cubs ($300k), Padres ($300k), Dodgers ($300k), Giants ($300k)
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) December 4, 2017