NEW YORK - The Yankees and Red Sox are among the teams pitcher and outfielder Shohei Ohtani has ruled out, and it seems the Japanese star will likely pursue a smaller market nearer to the West Coast.
New York general manager Brian Cashman confirmed to reporters Sunday night his club was out of the running.
"I know that our presentation was excellent," Cashman said. "The feedback from that was outstanding. But I did get a sense that I can't change that we're a big market and I can't change we're in the East."
Red Sox spokesman Kevin Gregg confirmed Boston's elimination from the bidding.
The New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers are also among the teams told they won't sign Ohtani.
Ohtani was put up for bid Friday by the Pacific League's Nippon Ham Fighters for the maximum $20 million posting fee. The 23-year-old has until 10:59 p.m. CST on Dec. 22 to agree to a contract with an MLB team.