Top MLB Insider Speaks on Shohei Ohtani’s Press Conference Cancellation, Shares Free Agency Thoughts Amidst Growing $500M Mystery

To get a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani is all that fans want to have. The famously private slugger rarely gives interviews, so there is no real way for the baseball faithful to know what goes around in the mind of one of their generation’s greatest players. A chance arrived with the Japanese slugger’s MVP press conference as many waited to hear his offseason moves. Unfortunately, the conference didn’t happen and a top insider has some comments on this issue.

The reason for the cancellation was cited as technical issues, all too common in the tech-equipped era. But was the problem genuine or a flimsy excuse? Ken Rosenthal believes it was the latter.

Rosenthal isn’t buying that Shohei Ohtani’s conference problems were true

The Athletic writer Ken Rosenthal recently appeared on the Foul Territory show, where the discussion was bound to shift to Shohei Ohtani and how they wished they could get to hear his state of mind. That’s when Rosenthal questioned the technical issues that plagued the meeting.

He said, “Well that was a joke first of all, that cannot happen. Here’s a guy who has not spoken to the media in months. He wins the MVP and they can’t figure out how to get him to the reporters? Can’t figure out how the access is going to work? The conference call or whatever it was. That was not good.”

Rosenthal then said how things like this shouldn’t happen. Even if there really were technical problems, they should have been solved. It is known that Shohei Ohtani was supposed to meet the reporters after his MVP win. However, after the meeting was delayed for 27 minutes, the reporters received the message that due to circumstances beyond his control, the meeting was being canceled. Note that Ohtani has already requested teams to keep their meetings a private affair.

The conversation then shifted to his free agency and how the Toronto Blue Jays could go after Ohtani. The Japanese superstar could join them due to a good Japanese diaspora in Toronto. So the Blue Jays could be a sleeper team here but then Rosenthal ended up saying that he still believes the original suitors are ahead in this race.

The original teams remain ahead in the race for Shotime

While many new names are constantly coming up for Ohtani, the fact remains that clubs like the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and LA Dodgers remain the front runners for the two-way phenom. The teams not only require huge funds but also high ambition to get the Japanese superstar.

Read more: A Cursed or Blessed Dichotomy? Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout’s ‘Championship-Less’ MVP Heritage

The race for Ohtani will only get wilder as the offseason continues. The world’s biggest baseball star surely warrants the complete attention of his suitors. And though Ohtani wants to keep things private it won’t stop fans from making speculations about his potential destination.

Each day the mystery grows as fans eagerly await for any hints to settle their curious minds.

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