I worry that it would be very, very hard to know that right now – even if you were involved in the process – and I think it would really sting if we let ourselves believe it was a 50/50 shot right now. But, for reasons adjacent to everything in the intro, and because this process is necessarily being kept SO SECRET, I was very hesitant to stand on a rooftop and shout that it was down to the Cubs and Dodgers for Shohei Ohtani. In a normal world, a report that sources believe the competition for Top Free Agent X would come down to just the Cubs and one other team would send me sprinting to discuss.Listen to what Levine had to say on Inside the Clubhouse about Ohtani's free agency: /MwYLnOAXL1- 670 The Score November 18, 2023

Speaking of being very cautious with how I say and share things, let me start with something that was, on its face, extremely major:Īll the feedback that has gotten from his sources indicates that the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes will be a showdown between the Dodgers and Cubs.So anyway, I keep typing and deleting joking-type-stuff, which makes me feel like I’m not quite being myself when writing about Ohtani, despite wanting to touch on every little nugget I possibly can. That whole “Shohei’s reps may hold leaks against teams” thing got me a little spooked! But in this particular free agent watch, when I so badly want to make ALL KINDS of jokes about secret meetings and top teams and what-have-you, I keep finding that I get close to that line and realize a lot of folks can’t quite tell where the truth ends and the joke starts.Īnd given the seriousness of this particular pursuit, far and away above any other free agent the Cubs have ever considered, I don’t want to inadvertently mislead anyone, or, God forbid, accidentally start a rumor that catches wildfire and becomes a potential problem for the actual process. I don’t think I’m alone in that, and I have to believe over the years that it has often been enjoyable for folks in my life. To be honest, I like to sometimes run up perilously close to an idea that I might actually believe or that might actually be true, but spin it into a joke so that I can have my cake and eat it, too.

$100 casino no deposit bonus 2024