The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly the top candidate to land Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama according to a report from Yahoo! Japan. I don’t know Japanese, so I’m relying on Google Translate, and the translation isn’t exactly the greatest – but you get the point of everything the original article is saying.
In early December at a winter meeting in San Diego, the United States, Akiyama entered the country and negotiated directly. One of them was Cincinnati-based Reds. In addition, Cubs seems to be unable to offer a large contract due to the aftermath of the luxury tax.