Sports Illustrated Insider Thinks Suspicious Activity Means Blue Jays are Progressing With Angels Shohei Ohtani

Many happenings are afoot.

Free agent Shohei Ohtani is the talk of the baseball world right now, and the offseason is essentially being held up waiting for his decision. Teams like the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and even your Los Angeles Angels were still considered to be in the bidding.

There was some suspicious activity happening on Monday at the winter meetings with the Blue Jays front office members. Sports Illustrated insider Stephanie Apstein believes that it may have been clues about Toronto's interest in Ohtani.

"On Monday there may have been a development. Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins reportedly switched his scheduled in-person media availability to Zoom, then declined to tell reporters where he was. Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, was not believed to be in Nashville on Monday either."

Per Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated

This could have been coincidental, but it also may not be. Anything and everything is fair game when it comes to free agency, thus sparking intrigue.

Additionally, there was another incident involving Blue Jays manager John Schneider changing his media address on Monday.

"Meanwhile, Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who had been scheduled to address the media on Monday afternoon, had his session moved to Tuesday. A person familiar with that process said the change had been made Friday. A team spokesperson did not return a request for comment as to whether Atkins’s classified location and Schneider’s schedule change were related. Atkins did not return a request for comment as to whether he was at that moment with Ohtani."

Per Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated

All of this is pure speculation at this point, and nobody really knows anything on the free agency of Ohtani. But with the reported interest of the Blue Jays lately, this does seem interesting. 

We should have more clarity on everything going forward soon with the winter meeting taking place. Ohtani should be coming to a decision over the next week, and baseball will finally know where he will play next season.