SF Giants are one of four left teams left in pursuit of Shohei Ohtani

The San Francisco Giants are among the finalists in pursuit of signing Shohei Ohtani, one of the greatest free agents to hit the open market in baseball history.

The latest report comes from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who said that the Cubs were the latest team to drop out of the race for Ohtani, a player who can be the best pitcher and batter in the league in any given season, and the MVP from the batter’s box. This leaves the Giants alongside the Dodgers, Blue Jays and even the Angels as the teams that have a shot of signing the Japanese phenom.

As any hurt Giants fan will tell you, the ball club has been here before. It’s getting eerily reminiscent of last year’s chase for Aaron Judge, which ended up a larp as the 2022 American League MVP ultimately returned to the Yankees, and appeared to only use the Giants for contract leverage.

However, that doesn’t change the reality that the Giants are still in the running, and their chances have only gotten stronger over the last few days. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Friday that three teams from the initial field of suitors — the World Series champion Rangers, the Red Sox and the Mets — have “turned their attention to other players.” Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Giants “are believed to have met” with Ohtani on Oracle Park Saturday based on the attendance of the team’s upper management at the ballpark. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

Ohtani also followed Giants pitcher Logan Webb on Instagram.

There is still noise coming from other teams. Ohtani reportedly met with the Blue Jays down in Florida on Monday, and even a return to the Angels is getting some buzz. But reports like that are to be expected. Ohtani, the reigning AL MVP, is a transcendent superstar who is estimated to make the most lucrative contract in American sports history with whatever team he signs with. It’d be more surprising if there was nothing but silence surrounding these negotiations, even with a warning from Ohtani’s agent that any leaks of Ohtani’s process will be held against teams.

Until Ohtani puts pen to paper, his next home is anyone’s guess. Yet the fact that the Giants are still among those in the running for a guy who could very well be the franchise’s next Barry Bonds means that this often criticized ownership and front office is at least doing something right to stay involved.

It’s safe to say, though, that the Giants fanbase won’t be satisfied with another second place finish for a top free agent.