Cubs executive Jed Hoyer ‘exchanges heated words’ with MLB reporter in clash over claim Chicago is out of the race for two-way star Shohei Ohtani

After reports leaked that the Chicago Cubs were behind the 8-ball in negotiations with Shohei Ohtani, Cubs management was none too pleased and led to a tense altercation.

The reports about the Cubs falling behind in the race for the Japanese superstar were published by USA Today baseball columnist Bob Nightengale.

Apparently, the Cubs President of Baseball Operations had seen these reports and was less than impressed: He found Nightengale at MLB's Winter Meetings and exchanged “some stern words,” according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

“A little bit of baseball,” Rogers told ESPN Chicago on Tuesday. “Jed was speaking to reporters a few minutes ago.

'As he walks towards the group he bumps into Bob Nightengale and some stern words are exchanged. Severe words were exchanged. I don't know what was said.'

The Chicago Cubs baseball director wasn't happy with a reporter on Tuesday

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Cubs were losing the race for Shohei Ohtani

The favorites to sign Ohtani are the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays

Free agency discussions are typically supposed to be a subtle affair – with details rarely made public about where teams lie in the races for players.

But Nightingale did his job, tweeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday: “Chicago Cubs optimism over landing Shohei Ohtani has now diminished significantly, a senior executive said, leaving behind the LA Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels. , and San Francisco Giants as the likely finalists.”

When his column appeared about three and a half hours later, he ended with: “The Chicago Cubs, who were involved early in the lottery, now appear to be out after resisting Ohtani's price tag of ten years and at least 500 million dollars, according to a senior Cubs official.”

Hoyer may have been especially upset about Nightengale's reporting that a “high-ranking” team official had leaked the news – since teams aren't supposed to talk about free agents.

It could also serve to hurt Chicago's leverage over other teams in free agency if it's clear they're not in the running for the reigning AL MVP.

That led to this stern exchange later Tuesday, with Hoyer dismissing the reports.

“I don't know where that came from,” Hoyer said. 'There's nothing to report at all.

“I think with all this Ohtani stuff, like any free agent, I'm not going to talk about discussions or meetings or where it is, I'm going to keep that quiet like everything else.”