Report: Chicago Cubs removed themselves from Shohei Ohtani pursuit

The Chicago Cubs are looking to re-tool and get back into the postseason mix next season after being eliminated in Game Five of the NLDS by the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Overall, the 2025 season has to be seen as a success story for a team that hadn’t made the playoffs since the abbreviated 2020 season and hadn’t actually won a postseason game since 2017.

Still, there are second-guesses all around this team’s 2025 campaign. And with the story that just popped up in the New York Post, those second-guesses have to be raging throughout Cubs fandom.

MLB insider Jon Heyman just reported that the Cubs– one of five finalists for free agent Japanese mega-star
Shohei Ohtani back in the winter of 2023– essentially removed themselves from the running for his services.

Chicago Cubs removed themselves from Shohei Ohtani pursuit

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Ohtani and his people singled out the Cubs, along with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, and Angels (his former team) as his go-to spots, Heyman mentions. However, when they made the offer of 10-years at $700 million, with 97% of the money deferred over time, the Cubs and Angels promptly removed themselves from the mix.

Ohtani, of course, would subsequently sign with the Dodgers and significantly add on to a legacy that already had him Hall of Fame bound from his time with the Angels.

A postseason icon with the Dodgers, Ohtani has essentially now become the Michael Jordan of baseball and an immeasurable asset on the field– as well as a monster draw and marketing asset who has motored the Dodgers into becoming the first MLB team to generate a billion dollars in revenue.

Passing on the Michael Jordan of baseball

What could a team NOT like about a guy who can hit 50+ home runs, register 100+ RBIs, and steal anywhere from 20 to 50 bases a year while also working as a starting pitcher with a sub-3.00 ERA?

And on a related note, what team would balk at getting all that for essentially $2 million dollars a year in the present tense?

Well, obviously, the Cubs were that team balking.

Ohtani’s deal, as laid out to interested teams, has him making $2 million a year from 2024 to 2033 and then $68 million a year from 2034 to 2043. A team would have to anticipate front-loading a lot of revenue early on before paying out at the end, when Ohtani either retires or moves on to one final free agent run as a 40-year-old.

The Cubs, by the way, had reportedly offered a straight forward 10-year deal worth just under $500 million– something which is actually pretty remarkable in and of itself, considering that it came from the frugal Cubs ownership.

Stubborn on deferred money

This means that the team recognized Ohtani’s worth, both on the field and in terms of revenue generation. They just weren’t willing to budge, however, on striking a deal with deferred money. This was the ame stubborn streak that reportedly led to the Cubs losing out on Alex Bregman.

It remains to be seen whether the Cubs would’ve actually had a real chance to sign Ohtani, even if they had agreed on the deferred money deal. It sure seems as if Ohtani always preferred the Dodgers.

Still, it boggles the mind that the Cubs would not budge on, clearly, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sign a generational talent and open a portal to accessing future high-end Japanese stars. It also makes one wonder what the team might be doing right now, had Ohtani gone to Chicago. It might be the Cubs playing in the World Series instead of the Dodgers.

The post Report: Chicago Cubs removed themselves from Shohei Ohtani pursuit appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-shohei-ohtani-free-agent