The winter of Shohei Ohtani is in full swing, but we seem to be coming to the finish line in terms of his free agency. We are in the endgame now, as Ohtani is expected to make his decision within the next few days.
Right now, the Dodgers are still seen as the favorites, but the Toronto Blue Jays are making a serious push. The incumbent Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants also remain in the bidding, according to reports.
Many have believed that he would ultimately end up with the Dodgers, and another report may have hinted at just that.
MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today further sparked debate online when he reported that reliever Joe Kelly would be "honored" to give up his No. 17 jersey number if the team were to land Ohtani.
"The Dodgers telephoned veteran reliever Joe Kelly this week to ask if he would surrender his uniform No. 17 to Ohtani."
Now, at first glance, you may be wondering why the Dodgers would call up Kelly to ask this. Especially considering that Kelly still remains unofficially re-signed. Do the Dodgers know that they will likely be signing Ohtani?
*Cue NBA analyst Brian Windhorst meme*
"Kelly, who signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Dodgers last week that has yet to be officially announced, informed Dodger officials that he’d be honored to switch uniform numbers for Ohtani. Ohtani has worn No. 17 since signing his first MLB contract in 2017 with the Los Angeles Angels."
Ohtani remains unsigned and there is no definitive report that he will be signing with the Dodgers. So, it's a little interesting that the team would do this.
This likely means nothing and maybe the Dodgers just want to have everything in place if they do indeed land Ohtani. But this also makes you think a little bit. We will see what happens over the next few days, but this is strange.
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