NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Welcome to Nashville, Ross Atkins.?

One day after the Blue Jays¡¯ general manager joined a cryptic Zoom call from parts unknown, sitting in front of a blank white wall that offered no clues to baseball¡¯s greatest mystery, Atkins rode into the MLB Winter Meetings atop a freight train of Shohei Ohtani?speculation.

¡°Everybody has me in four different places, it¡¯s so funny,¡± Atkins said on MLB Network Radio. ¡°The best was the text messages I was getting from other GMs. Everybody is speculating and guessing.¡±

Overnight, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Blue Jays were believed to have met with Ohtani and his representatives at the club¡¯s Spring Training complex in Dunedin, Fla., the crown jewel of their recent run of big-money renovations. Ohtani¡¯s negotiations have been fiercely private up to this point, just like the superstar himself, but that¡¯s beginning to change.

Tuesday afternoon, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that his organization had met with Ohtani recently, which keeps Los Angeles and Toronto at the forefront of a race barrelling toward the finish line.?

¡°We met with Shohei and we talked, and I think it went well,¡± Roberts said. ¡°But at the end of the day he's his own man and he's going to do what's best for himself, [go] where he feels most comfortable.¡±

Before a dam bursts, it will drip, drip, drip ¡­

The Blue Jays have been serious bidders for Ohtani, the two-time MVP who is about to become a half-billion-dollar man and change a franchise¡¯s trajectory with a signature. A visit to Toronto's player development complex suggests this is something far more advanced, though, putting the Blue Jays among the inner circle of finalists alongside the Dodgers and other bidders.

• Could the Blue Jays land Ohtani?

Atkins is playing his cards so close to the vest that he might crack a rib, but he didn¡¯t shy away from sharing the sales pitch.

¡°If you just talk about the city of Toronto, that it represents a nation, that we now have the best resources as it relates to getting players better with our facility in Dunedin in 2024, [and] our player-focused facilities that will be in Rogers Centre,¡± Atkins said. ¡°They will be, in our opinion, one of one.¡±

If those facilities will be one of one, then Atkins¡¯ comments Tuesday were for an audience of one: Shohei Ohtani.

The Blue Jays want to sell Ohtani on not just the contract, but the Blue Jays¡¯ facilities and their ability to contend long-term. Ohtani¡¯s deal is expected to be for a decade or longer, and while it¡¯s very possible he negotiates opt-out clauses to protect himself, the sport¡¯s brightest star isn¡¯t going anywhere that he¡¯ll need to live through a rebuild.

¡°[We have] the ability to acquire players at every level,¡± Atkins continued, ¡°to maximize spending on amateur and international, to be able to trade for players, to be able to go after high-caliber free agents like George Springer, Hyun Jin Ryu, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt. That¡¯s an exciting and easy thing to sell. It¡¯s not something that we¡¯re looking to overcome, it¡¯s something we¡¯re celebrating.¡±

Blue Jays manager John Schneider holds all those same beliefs, and while he tiptoed carefully through a minefield of questions about the Blue Jays¡¯ interest in Ohtani on Tuesday, he touched on the topic in broad strokes, speaking of the once-in-a-lifetime star at the center of it all.

¡°I think what he does is obviously unique to the sport,¡± Schneider said. ¡°Pitching, hitting, he can run. Dangerous in the box, obviously you always know when he's coming up in the order. A talent that the game hasn't seen in quite some time, if ever.¡±

Given the report of Ohtani¡¯s presence in Dunedin, these negotiations are clearly reaching a late stage. Clubs involved, including the Blue Jays, have put some other plans on hold while they wait on Ohtani¡¯s decision, waiting to pivot elsewhere if Ohtani decides to do the same.

Until then, you¡¯re staring at a stretch of days that have the potential to be some of the biggest in the history of this organization ¡­ or one of its greatest heartbreaks.