Padres Rumors: Insider Says Friars Are Expected to Go All-In for Shohei Ohtani This Offseason

Could the Padres land Ohtani this winter?

As the San Diego Padres continue on through this season, they not only have their sights on possibly winning a World Series but also towards the offseason. Like many other teams, San Diego is well aware that Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to be a free agent this summer and the team is planning on going all-in to land him.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post all but confirmed it.

"Baseball folks expect the Padres to be in the free-agent bidding for two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, which shouldn’t surprise anyone."

Per The NY Post

This isn’t major breaking news as the Padres have been one of the more aggressive teams in terms of spending over the last few seasons. And now Ohtani is their next target of note.

“Owner Peter Seidler



has made a commitment to fans, and though his pockets aren’t nearly as deep as Steve Cohen’s, Seidler is as focused as anyone on winning (and Ohtani has made winning is his clear priority, too).”

Per The NY Post

The Padres have seen record attendance this season at Petco Park so they owe it to their fans to keep trying to win. There is a clear want from the people of San Diego to see this team and the spending sprees aren’t likely to stop anytime soon.

There is also now the addition of the designated hitter in the National League that could work to the teams advantage with Ohtani being a two-way star.

“GM A.J. Preller is said to have impressed Ohtani last time by memorizing a 15-minute presentation in Japanese, and though the Padres were among the seven finalists, word was their inability to use a DH back then prevented them from being a true contender.”

Per The NY Post

San Diego getting into the running can’t hurt them. At best, they land Ohtani and create an even more powerful team for years to come. And at worse, they drive up the price for opposing teams and create more financial burden on them for the future.

The goal is simple however and that is to bring Ohtani to San Diego. The rival Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and New York Yankees will likely be other teams vying for his services so the Padres will have their work cut out for them. But if we know anything about this team, they will be aggressive until the very end of the discussions.