Insider lists potential landing spots for Angels' Shohei Ohtani

There's another sign that Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani could remain in California beyond the 2023 season. 

MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that "some" individuals in the league view the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants as likely landing spots for Ohtani assuming he reaches free agency shortly after this year's World Series. 

"The Dodgers cleared financial room and are the most consistent winners," Heyman noted. Heyman also mentioned how the Giants missed out on acquiring slugger Aaron Judge and shortstop Carlos Correa via deals worth over $300M this past offseason and, thus, "are in excellent shape financially" to sign the 28-year-old Japanese phenom seemingly coasting toward winning his second American League Most Valuable Player Award in three years. 

Heyman suggested the Angels could convince Ohtani to stay, in part by earning at least a playoff berth this fall. 44-39 Los Angeles began Friday trailing the first-place Texas Rangers by six games in the AL West standings. The Angels were a game-and-a-half back in the race for a wild-card berth at that time. 

Heyman added that Ohtani "may prefer the West Coast" regarding his future home and that the New York Yankees "had the impression six years ago (Ohtani) didn’t want to come to NYC." Yankees reporter Chris Kirschner of The Athletic recently explained that he thinks it's not "realistic" to believe team owner Hal Steinbrenner would pay up to $600M guaranteed to win Ohtani's signature. 

Meanwhile, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen indicated on Wednesday his club could sell veterans ahead of this year's trade deadline as it ended Thursday's MLB action 17-and-a-half games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East standings. Heyman wrote Ohtani could ultimately cost the Mets "$105M-plus (per season) considering the 'Steve Cohen' luxury tax is rising to 110 percent from 90 percent."

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Jeff Passan said Ohtani’s comfort with the Angels could impact his free-agency decision. However, it remains unknown if Angels owner Arte Moreno is willing to exceed the luxury tax threshold to compete with the likes of big-spending clubs such as the Dodgers, Giants and Mets in an upcoming bidding war over Ohtani’s services.