The numerous Blue Jays supporters who were hoping Shohei Ohtani would pick Toronto finished their weekend with conspiracy theories and frustration after enjoying joyful flight tracking all weekend long.
In the meanwhile, false rumours claimed that Ohtani had signed with the Blue Jays and was on a plane to Toronto; however, it turned out that the versatile player had been at home in Southern California the entire time. It was even more disappointing to see Ohtani select the Los Angeles Dodgers under such circumstances.
The suffering for Blue Jays supporters will probably not go away since Ohtani ends up with the Dodgers in every telling of the tale. Though it’s difficult to blame Ohtani for selecting a legendary team with a strong farm system and 11 straight postseason trips, the Dodgers also made an unprecedented offer of $700 million over ten years, heavily weighted with deferrals.
The two-time MVP himself can only truly comment on how close the Blue Jays were to signing Ohtani, but according to those involved with the negotiations, their best offer was on par with the Dodgers’ budget. According to a person with knowledge of the negotiations, the Blue Jays were “right there” with a very competitive offer.
Although the exact amount is unknown, being “right there” with a $700 million offer shows that the ownership of Rogers Communications Inc., which also owns Sportsnet, is likely offering a final bid far more than $600 million. Both Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and a representative for CAA, which represents Ohtani, declined to comment when contacted via text message this past weekend.
Of course, there is also the issue of purpose in addition to the financial one. Cynics might argue that Ohtani was only using the Blue Jays as leverage and that he was always going to pick the Dodgers. Was Ohtani genuinely interested in visiting the Blue Jays’ player development complex in Dunedin, Florida, or was it just a ruse to get more cash from the Dodgers?
Furthermore, did you notice that CAA represents both Ohtani and Robert Herjavec? Perhaps it was all a staged hoax, with the presenter of Shark Tank acting as a willing stooge and Blue Jays supporters as the intended victim. Create a lot of hype about the charter trip and hope that no one would notice when a 61-year-old investor got off the plane to scare the Dodgers into making a bigger bid.
Or perhaps not. Even if CAA intended to frighten the Dodgers, wouldn’t they leak information that the Giants were pressing hard instead of the Jays, as one industry watcher pointed out? Given San Francisco’s near misses on Carlos Correa and Aaron Judge, it makes sense, and the Giants are a greater danger to the Dodgers because they play in the same division.
Of course, Ohtani and his CAA representatives profited greatly from all of the excitement surrounding the Blue Jays. Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated claims that on Friday, there was “angst among the Los Angeles executives.” Perhaps Ohtani was pushed towards the Blue Jays PDC earlier in the week by his representatives, who were aware that a leak would happen. However, this does not imply that everything that has happened over the past several days was a conspiracy designed by agent Nez Balelo.
Another way to look at it is this: the Blue Jays had good reason to think they were in it all the way to the finish and were very interested in Ohtani. Ohtani was impressed by the Blue Jays’ pitch, which was an extraordinary team effort with a large amount of ownership engagement. The Blue Jays were contenders, most certainly finishing second. In several instances, the shared interest was misrepresented, deceiving supporters. Ohtani ultimately decided on the Dodgers.
That puts the Blue Jays back where they started, though the chase does provide some understanding of how the franchise may handle stars in the future. With three years left on his six-year, $150 million contract, George Springer presently holds the record for the largest contract in franchise history. An offer reaching $700 million would easily break that mark.
A team that asked players to postpone payments for a year in order to get right-hander Ervin Santana during the last ten years is showing a considerable amount of willingness to spend with this proposal. Other agents, meantime, have taken note of the Blue Jays’ assertiveness and plan to leverage it while negotiating with the team this off-season. In addition to free agency, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s agents will undoubtedly pay attention before engaging in any discussions about extensions.
The Blue Jays had a tonne of work to do this off-season, even before the Ohtani sweepstakes got up in earnest. There are now six free agents from the squad from the previous season, and the front office still hasn’t added anything to address any pressing needs. This is especially true of the starting lineup, where there are a lot of questions around third base and left field.
For the Blue Jays, acquiring Ohtani—a legendary player in his prime—would have been an organisational coup. The enthusiasm he would have caused cannot be duplicated. But what option does the front management have now that he’s decided on the Dodgers? It’s time to look for other methods to have the same impact on the field that Ohtani can have on his own.
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