Bring on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes! The 2023 MLB offseason featured reigning MVP Aaron Judge being courted by multiple teams. In the end, Judge ended up staying with the Yankees. This time, the hot name in the market is Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani. Currently, the rumor mill seems to think that the Los Angeles Dodgers are front-runners to acquire Ohtani.

However, there's one NL team lurking in the shadows to sign Shohei Ohtani: the Chicago Cubs. That's according to Bob Nightengale's report. Why? Because the team has a bunch of cap space to use after a couple contracts get sorted out.

“The Los Angeles Dodgers are the overwhelming favorites to sign Ohtani. The Chicago Cubs are the sleeper pick, several GMs say, particularly with $43 million coming off their books with the expiration of Jason Heyward’s contract and Marcus Stroman opting out.”

Ohtani on the Cubs would certainly be… interesting. Chicago was one of the teams last season that was nearly part of the playoff picture. A losing streak towards the end of the season destroyed their chances, but the team showed some promise in the back half of the season. Perhaps all they need is an infusion of Shohei Ohtani in order to crack the postseason code.

It's still very possible that Shohei Ohtani does not end up going to the Cubs… or the Dodgers for that matter. The same article mentions that the Angels have a very real possibility of retaining the star two-way player. We'll see which team Ohtani decides to represent next season.