It appears that Rangers fans' dreams of Shohei Ohtani blasting baseballs into the seats of Globe Life Field all season long won't become a reality.
the k&c masterpiece discussed the Ohtani report on Friday's show
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Friday morning that the Rangers were one of three teams - joining the Red Sox and Mets - who have started to turn their attention away from Ohtani after initially expressing interest in signing this offseason's prize free agent.
While Ohtani's way of thinking has been tough to decipher throughout the offseason, there is a belief throughout MLB that the Dodgers are considered the favorite for his services. Passan notes that the Cubs, Blue Jays and Angels are seemingly still involved in the bidding, with San Francisco another possibility.
Of note is that of the teams still in the mix, only the Dodgers, Angels and Cubs had previously made the cut when it came to talking to Ohtani during his first go-round in free agency. Texas also was afforded a meeting six years ago, while the Red Sox were not.
The ESPN.com report states that the bidding for Ohtani could reach $600 million, blowing away the previous largest contract in North America sports, which currently belongs to Mike Trout ($426.5 million).
The news of the Rangers being out of the running comes one day after general manager Chris Young teased that the offseason will be quieter than the previous two.
"We expect to be active in free agency, but probably not spending at the level that we have spent in previous offeseasons," Young told reporters, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
That means Texas will not bid on the other high-priced free agents such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell, and potentially Jordan Montgomery.
According to Grant, the club's unsettled TV agreement with Bally Sports is putting the Rangers in a difficult position entering free agency. According to the contract between the Rangers and Diamond Sports Group, the company that owns Bally Sports, Texas was set to receive $100 million in rights fees for the 2024 season.
Bally Sports and its parent company Diamond Sports Group announced that they had reached an agreement with its creditors and they would broadcast baseball games for the 2024 season before ending operations completely.
However, The Athletic reported in November that Diamond Sports Group is considering dropping the Rangers broadcasts before the season, which would immediately free the clubs to go find TV broadcasting partners elsewhere. Meaning that Texas doesn't exactly know how much TV money will be coming its way next season and in the years to come.
“There’s uncertainty with what the rights fees are and will be going forward and we, obviously, have a responsibility to be financially prudent,” Young told Grant and other reporters ahead of next week’s Winter Meetings. “That said, ownership has been amazing with the resources they have provided us and continue to provide us. We expect to be active in free agency, but probably not spending at the level that we have spent in previous offseasons.
“One of the things about our team is we have a great returning core group and we’re really looking for additions to kind of shore up the team. We feel good about the resources we have to field a team that will have a chance to go out and compete for a world championship again.”