The 2023 MLB regular season hasn’t even finished yet, but hot stove’s preheating process is already underway.

Rumblings are bouncing around regarding some of the best free agents on the market. And when that group includes perhaps the best (certainly the most uniquely talented) player on the planet and a strong candidate for the NL Cy Young, these whispers are the kind that could soon reshape the baseball landscape.

Let’s dissect these discussions, then.

Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes a Two-Team Race?1 OF 3

1. Loren Elliott/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Shohei Ohtani suffered an elbow injury in late August that pulled him off the mound, and then an oblique injury forced him off the field altogether just a few weeks later. He still looks like an obvious choice for AL MVP, because he was so dominant before the injuries shut him down.

As a hitter, he tallied 44 homers, 20 stolen bases and 197 combined runs and RBI in 135 games, all while posting a pristine .304/.412/.654 hitting slash. As a pitcher, he had a 3.14 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP with 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. He is a legitimate superstar in both facets of his two-way game.

That’s why his free agency could be bonkers, even with that elbow injury keeping him off the mound for at least next season. He will clearly have no shortage of suitors, though one insider already sees this coming down to two major-market teams. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal opined (11:30 mark) Ohtani will land with either the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets.

“The Dodgers have been the favorite for a long time, or at least a team we thought would definitely be in the mix,” Rosenthal said on the Foul Territory podcast. “I cannot rule out the Mets. I cannot see [Mets owner] Steve Cohen simply passing on Shohei Ohtani.”

The Dodgers and Mets are certainly no strangers to mega-spending, so they could absolutely wind up in a bidding war with each other. There are more teams in the mix, though, with Rosenthal adding that the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are possibilities for Ohtani as well.

Significant Subtractions in San Diego?2 OF 3

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The San Diego Padres had big plans and a bigger payroll this season, and none of it amounted to much. They had actual World Series hopes, yet they’re left clinging to the faintest of faint hopes for capturing a Wild Card spot.

Disappointment to this degree often spawns significant changes, and it sounds like that could be the case here. The Padres “have no plans” to re-sign either NL Cy Young candidate Blake Snell or All-Star closer Josh Hader, per USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.

San Diego could be in for a busy offseason with whispers swirling about substantial payroll cuts and possible changes to the front office. It all feels a little reactionary—the Padres won 89 games last season and have this season’s 10th-best run differential (plus-94)—but maybe that’s just a lot easier to say when you aren’t the one writing the checks.

If San Diego is truly done with Snell and Hader, the market will be thrilled to pick either up. Snell might soon become a two-time Cy Young winner by way of his MLB-leading 2.25 ERA, and Hader has clearly regained his spot among baseball’s elite relievers with 32 saves and a career-best 1.18 ERA.

Cubs Starter Staying Put?3 OF 3

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For a big stretch of this season, it seemed like Marcus Stroman was pitching his way into the Cy Young race and maybe out of the Windy City.

He had a 2.28 ERA through his first 16 starts. At the time, opting out of the final year of his contract and $21 million salary for next season seemed like a no-brainer. But he has since struggled with injuries and inconsistency—8.25 ERA in 10 outings since—which could change his plans entirely.

Nightengale reported that is exactly what has happened with Stroman “now expecting to stay in Chicago without an extension.”

This is good news for the Cubs. Despite fading in the second half, he’s still set to post a sub-4.00 ERA for the fifth time in is last six seasons. He is, at worst, a rock-solid starter with the s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s to put special stretches—if not entire seasons—together.