Some have speculated that the AL would be a better fit for Ohtani because of the ability to DH, but four out of the seven finalists are National League teams. In this article, MLB.com states the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers join the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs as the teams still in potential discussions for Ohtani.

The Cubs would neither confirm nor deny on Sunday night whether they made the cut to the next stage of the process for the player some call the "Babe Ruth of Japan". They spoke on condition of anonymity because not all teams had announced whether they were in or out. The 23-year-old has until 11:59 p.m. EST on December 22 to agree to a contract with an Major League Baseball team. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Sunday that Ohtani's camp had informed him NY was out of play.

But they apparently couldn't over the geography as Ohtani and his CAA reps appear to be focused on west coast markets as they also eliminated the Yankees, who many had considered the favorites, along with the Red Sox and Mets.

"I know that our presentation was excellent", Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "I can't change that that we're a big market and I can't change we're in the East". By leaving Japan at 23, Ohtani can only sign a standard major-league rookie contract, and his signing bonus cannot exceed $3.535 million. The Rangers have the largest signing bonus amount remaining among the teams he is considering at $3,535,000, followed by the Mariners ($1,557,500) and Angels ($1,315,000). NY had accumulated the second-most worldwide free agent money, which will be used to sign Ohtani, as major league rules limit the amount he can receive.

The Padres are a finalist for Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, sources told the Union-Tribune.