As Shohei Ohtani moves closer to making a free agency decision in the coming weeks, he reportedly wants his visits with teams kept private.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported earlier this week that if a meeting between Ohtani and any team becomes public, the two-way superstar will hold it against the interested club.
"If there is one thing to know about Shohei Ohtani's free agency, it's that you are unlikely to know much about it until he signs somewhere," Passan wrote (h/t SI Now). "If visits between Ohtani and a team are reported publicly, it will be held against the team, so the circles will be tiny and tight."
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Ohtani arguably is the most sought-after free agent in MLB history, and the Giants are among the teams with interest in the 2021 AL MVP.
The Athletic's Jim Bowden recently reported that he wouldn't be surprised if the Giants out-bid all other teams for Ohtani, who reportedly could decide where to sign before or during the MLB Winter Meetings, which run from Dec. 4 through Dec. 7 in Nashville, Tenn.
NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic wrote earlier this offseason that Ohtani and Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto are the focus of the Giants' offseason.
And it sounds like the best thing the Giants can do to improve their chances of signing Ohtani is to make sure no one knows if he meets with them.
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