The Giancarlo Stanton trade talks are temporarily on hold, because the Giants’ front office is spending Monday afternoon chasing a different superstar.
According to a report from Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Giants’ executives Larry Baer, Bobby Evans and Brian Sabean are being joined by manager Bruce Bochy and catcher Buster Posey in a meeting with two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Otani.
On Sunday afternoon, the Giants learned they are one of seven teams who are considered finalists for the free agent from Japan, and Pavlovic reported that representatives from the team were meeting with Otani on Monday.
Sources: Baer, Sabean, Evans, Bochy and Posey are part of large group meeting with Shohei Ohtani this afternoon: https://t.co/dy4nIN6vm9
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) December 4, 2017
Otani is reportedly interested in playing for a West Coast team, and the Dodgers, Padres and Mariners are also finalists for the 23-year-old’s services. Otani is one of the highest-profile free agents to leave Japan for the United States in recent history, and he’s one of the youngest to do so.
Under the current posting agreement between Major League Baseball and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League, Otani is only able to receive a Minor League contract plus any additional money teams have in international bonus pool spending. The San Francisco Giants are limited to offering Otani a $300,000 contract, but by coming to the United State before the age of 25, Otani is passing up on a contract that could be worth upward of $200 million.
Even though the Giants are in the National League, the team reportedly has interest in using Otani both as a starting pitcher and as an outfielder, and working out a schedule that would allow Otani to maximize his abilities as a pitcher and as a hitter.