Cubs' Jed Hoyer slams the reports suggesting club being out on Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes

Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani's sweepstakes rumors are riding high this offseason. Earlier, a report by Bob Nightengale of USA Today said that the Chicago Cubs' “optimism of landing Ohtani has now significantly waned.”

However, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, came forward and cleared up the rumors at the Winter Meetings:

“I don’t know where that came from,” Hoyer said to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s no nothing to report whatsoever.”

As per sources, the Cubs are still awaiting an update from Ohtani's camp, which suggests that they might have already made the offer.

The trade rumors about the former LA Angels star have been unusual, with the Ohtani camp maintaining privacy about their proceedings. However, as per reports, the LA Dodgers, LA Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants are the teams that have either connected with Ohtani's agent or have presented the offer to him.

The latest on Shohei Ohtani's sweepstakes at the Winter Meetings

Recently, LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts mentioned that the club has met with Ohtani, suggesting that the club is very interested in acquiring Shohei Ohtani.

Chicago Cubs' newly hired manager Craig Counsell was asked if they had meetings with Ohtani's, which he denied, saying, "I have not."

Oddly enough, it seems that the Atlanta Braves are happy with their current group of players and are more or less out of Ohtani's sweepstakes. Recently, their president of baseball operations, Alex Anthopoulos, was asked about Ohtani, to which he said that he was happy with their current roster.

Chicago Cubs' payroll situation

To land a high-caliber player, the club needs to increase its payroll and that's where the Cubs might be heading if they are interested in acquiring Ohtani's services. Per Roster Resource, their current payroll stands at $178 million, shy of the club-high $203 million.

Easily, Ohtani's expected salary will land somewhere between $45-50 million annually, which will require them to surpass their previous high of $203 million and end up closer to $230 million in payroll.