Hype over baseball star Shohei Ohtani builds as Blue Jays make their bid

Any day now, it could be "Shotime" — as baseball dynamo Shohei Ohtani is known — in Toronto.

The world of major league baseball has lurched to an anxious standstill this week as Ohtani, the 29-year-old Japanese designated hitter and pitcher and currently the sport's most-desired free agent, will choose where he lands next.

The dramatic Ohtani sweepstakes — which are shrouded in secrecy, much like the player himself — have reportedly included pitches by his incumbent team, the Los Angeles Angels, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants.

But the Toronto Blue Jays have emerged as a serious contender after the athlete reportedly met with the team's front office on Monday. It's a seismic development for excited Jays fans during this year's unusually quiet annual winter meetings in Nashville, when teams convene to conduct business and make off-season trades.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime player," said Julia Kreutz, a reporter with MLB.com. "I don't think we have ever seen anyone like Shohei Ohtani."

Ohtani is an unusually skilled player, being both a tremendous hitter and starting pitcher, Kreutz said. He was dubbed the "Babe Ruth of Japan" early in his career, and finished the 2023 season with 44 home runs and a batting average over .300.

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Toronto's team is "pretty heavily in the mix" to win Ohtani over, Kreutz said. "The Blue Jays are mentioned in pretty much every report that has Shohei Ohtani's name in it right now.... It is reason to be optimistic."

The team, backed by corporate sponsor Rogers, also has the "financial flexibility" to strike a deal, Kreutz added. 

That the Jays' starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi went