MLB's Winter Meetings are officially underway

The GIST: Fire up The Hot Stove because generational talent Shohei Ohtani and more of baseball’s biggest stars could be on the move as MLB’s Winter Meetings get underway.

Shohei Ohtani: A two-time MVP, three-time All-Star, and holder of records not seen since some guy named Babe Ruth, Ohtani is truly in a league of his own. That’s why the priceless two-way player is expected to command the biggest contract baseball’s ever seen, with current estimations reaching a total value in the $500M range.

• Ohtani has spent the last six seasons toiling (and missing the playoffs) with the LA Angels and is hitting the market for the first time since his fanfare-filled 2017 signing with the Halos.

• The postseason mainstay LA Dodgers are the current favorites to land Ohtani, with the Angels, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Francisco Giants still in the running amid reports Ohtani could sign “within the next week.” Sho-time.

More names to know: Three-time All-Star outfielder Juan Soto could also be swapping jerseys, with reports that the San Diego Padres are open to trading the player they went all in to acquire just a year and a half ago. One of the game’s most consistent hitters, Soto would be a major boost to any offense.

• And the other player to look out for is one who hasn’t even played in MLB yet: Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a five-time All-Star in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the second-best league in the world. Remember the name.