It's fun to get invested in these things. At the end of the day it's just sports. The fact that Shohei Ohtani and the Blue Jays are being used in the same sentence is wild. Does the Dodgers make the most sense for him? Of course. But whatever, it's fun to dream!
Honestly, I said at the start that I can't see him taking the Dodgers and betraying the Angels. I could still see him being loyal to the Angels and staying there though I don't know the ownership situation. I still say San Francisco. As a big guy he'd look great in that uniform since Bonds retired. Hopefully there's no smoke with Wells' tweet.
Also, as fun and anxious this is as fans, I don't understand it from Ohtani's perspective. For a guy who is fine with avoiding attention, surely each club already has their best offers on the table. You know what's in front of you. Why wouldn't he make a decision? Anyway, my revised odds:
Angels 35% - I think he stays loyal to them if they match what's the best offer out there
Giants 25% - as stated above
Jays 25% - as a fan. lol
Dodgers 15% - I simply can't see him betraying the Angels now
I wouldn’t see joining the Dodgers as a betrayal of the Angels. The Angels are a poorly run organization and only tried to win last season as a last ditch effort to keep Ohtani.
The Angels probably have less than a 1% chance of keeping him.
Honestly, I can see a dark horse coming in, such as Atlanta. Imagine AA after that.
But yeah the excitement is indisputable and growing. I think the Dodgers are still front runners Roberts' slip up nothwithstanding.
Jays are going all out, and for all teams it's probably past the money, and Ohtani is not driven by money. ($560 million or $600, who cares), so all teams are going all out. He has a army of personal trainers already and probably other people around him to enhance his career and life, so each team has to cater to that. And he's a private, unconventional guy, so it really has to be an intangibles fit for him personally, wherever.
I still put the Jays at 20% chance, but to even be in the mix at a late stage is cool. But it goes past the "wanting to make the team better" as it is for probably most of the US teams, this would be bigger than that off the field if it was Toronto. It's a once in a long time acquisition that goes past baseball for Rogers.
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Loyalty. They didn't trade him at the deadline. Friends with Trout as well. They're a poorly run organization from the decisions they made but not close to a treat-your-players bad (IFAIK). I think they're a darkhorse personally and logically so much makes sense if they're kept around this long. If they didn't have a chance he'd have punted them already.
Loyalty. They didn't trade him at the deadline. Friends with Trout as well. They're a poorly run organization from the decisions they made but not close to a treat-your-players bad (IFAIK). I think they're a darkhorse personally and logically so much makes sense if they're kept around this long. If they didn't have a chance he'd have punted them already.
I feel like the opposite is true. If he was loyal and that mattered to him at all he would have already signed his extension with them without going into free agency.
Loyalty. They didn't trade him at the deadline. Friends with Trout as well. They're a poorly run organization from the decisions they made but not close to a treat-your-players bad (IFAIK). I think they're a darkhorse personally and logically so much makes sense if they're kept around this long. If they didn't have a chance he'd have punted them already.
Dude. Do you do any research when you make these takes?
Loyalty. They didn't trade him at the deadline. Friends with Trout as well. They're a poorly run organization from the decisions they made but not close to a treat-your-players bad (IFAIK). I think they're a darkhorse personally and logically so much makes sense if they're kept around this long. If they didn't have a chance he'd have punted them already.
The only way the Angels sign him is if they forge his signature
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One more thing to add is the Angels 200ish million/year TV contract is in bankruptcy hearings, and will likely not survive past this year.
I imagine Ohtani's agent is happy to keep Angels as a short term option alive. They can sell that as he doesn't have to take a big deal now, but can let the Angels pay him 80 million over a couple years with an opt out to rehab his pitching arm and go for the real mega deal if it's not going to be out there this year.
It seems 500+ is out there from all the accounts, so the Angels angle is nothing but a leverage play.
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The Angels gave up some of their best prospects to get Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez as a last ditch effort to appeal to Ohtani. They then lost a few games and waived almost a quarter of the roster to cut costs. They lost Giolito and Lopez plus Hunter Renfroe for nothing.
They are a Mickey Mouse organization…no pun intended.
