What are the odds that Shohei Ohtani "Comes to Texas" and plays for the Texas Rangers

Does Texas even have a shot to sign Ohtani?

The answer to this question could potentially be found in the past. In 2017 after he was posted by his Japanese team and allowed to take free agent meetings, he chose seven teams to meet with. Those teams were the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres. He eliminated the Yankees early on in the process and did not take a meeting with them.

The Ohtani True Value calculator at the end of the article throws out six contenders for Ohtani. The writer eliminates Texas and San Diego from the 2017 meetings list and adds the New York Mets. Ohtani did not want to play in New York back in 2017 and that has probably not changed. I think New York can safely be eliminated. I am not sure if the Cubs signing Ohtani turns them into a World Series contender. The other four I believe will all make great offers and are West Coast teams that are shorter flights away from Japan. They each have fan bases that are more diverse. They have ownership groups that are willing to pay top dollar. They each have built good enough teams adding Ohtani will make them World Series contenders.

Texas can compete with any of those teams, both financially and being competitive on the field. They are hurt by location, but they do have experience with Japanese superstars after having Yu Darvish pitch for the Texas Rangers from 2012-2017. They will be able to make any and all accommodations that Ohtani and his team could ask for. They have a beautiful ballpark, workout and recovery facilities, and a massive clubhouse. They absolutely have a team that could make a run at a World Series this season.

Remember the speculation said that Jacob deGrom was going to sign with the Atlanta Braves, Corey Seager was going to be a New York Yankee, and Nathan Eovaldi was going to be going back to Boston. All of that to say when this front office targets a player they want they normally close the deal with said player.