Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani will start against the Red Sox on Tuesday. If the Sox had their druthers, though, it would be the other way around, per Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Boston, like just about every other major league team, courted Ohtani during his brief foray into free agency over the winter. The club showed Ohtani a 25-minute video presentation that prominently featured former Red Sox starter/slugger Babe Ruth, the most successful two-way player of all-time, as a recruiting tool. Ohtani is aiming to make a Ruthian impact as both a pitcher and a hitter in the majors, and so far he’s thriving on both ends. The Red Sox would have given Ohtani the opportunity to capitalize on his unique talents, as Silverman details, though he eliminated them (and most other clubs) from the process pretty quickly. “I wish we were in a position where we could have tackled that challenge,” said president Dave Dombrowski. “We liked him a great deal, we thought very highly of him. I thought he was a legitimate two-way player.” Silverman’s piece, which contains more quotes from Dombrowski and senior vice president of personnel Allard Baird (who scouted Ohtani extensively from 2012-17), is worth checking out in full.
More from the East Coast…
- Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson could take the ball for the Nationals on Monday when they open a series against the division-rival Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com suggests. Righty A.J. Cole is penciled in at the moment, though signs are pointing to Hellickson making his Nats debut, Zuckerman explains. Promoting Hellickson, whom Washington signed to a minors deal before the season, would require the team to add him to its 40-man roster and jettison someone else. That wouldn’t be the out-of-options Cole, per Zuckerman, who expects him to move to the bullpen in the event of a Hellickson call-up. The 31-year-old Hellickson, a veteran of 197 starts, will earn a $2MM salary if he lands a spot with the Nats.
- Manager Aaron Boone told Marc Carig of The Athletic and other reporters Sunday that it’s “possible,” albeit “not necessarily” probable, the Yankees will promote top prospect Gleyber Torres during the upcoming week. The Yankees would gain an extra year of control over the infielder by waiting until April 18 to promote him, though general manager Brian Cashman insisted during spring training that the team’s not concerned about that. Torres has made his case for a call-up at the Triple-A level since last year, having hit .333/.407/.496 in 135 plate appearances. If the 21-year-old does join the Yankees soon, he could be a factor at both second and third base.
- The Marlins’ best player, catcher J.T. Realmuto, is closing in on his 2018 debut. Realmuto, out since late March with a lower back injury, could rejoin the Marlins at the start of their nine-game road trip Monday, manager Don Mattingly informed Steve Dorsey of MLB.com and other reporters. And third baseman Martin Prado is “progressing” in his recovery from a left hamstring strain, per Mattingly, who added that the veteran could begin a rehab assignment soon. Prado, like Realmuto, hasn’t played yet this season.
- The Mets activated first baseman Dominic Smith from the DL on Sunday and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas, Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. The former top 100 prospect had been dealing with a strained quad since the outset of spring training, thus putting the kibosh on his chances of winning a job in camp. Smith, 22, is now behind Adrian Gonzalez, Wilmer Flores (and maybe others) in the Mets’ first base pecking order.
The Yankees may not be concerned about the extra year of control, but at this point, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t wait two or three more days to promote Torres. A couple of weeks, maybe, but a couple of days?
Why does it matter? He struggled in the spring. If they need him, they need him, give him a shot, he struggles? Send him back down
If they wait until April 16 or after to call him up they get that extra year
Hes the best prospect the last 10 years in baseball. Why missing out on Ohtani was not a big deal.
Lol
Bwahhhahaha.. The delusional Yankees Homer.
Hate to tell you this, watched him in Single A, if he struggles with bat, he struggles in the field, he is talented, but extremely streaky. Don’t be surprised if he is like Baez of the Cubs, struggles on 1st Gallup before getting sent down.
Callup^
They do care, they just don’t admit to it.
Of course they do. Every team cares about this stuff. Cashman is a b00b but even he knows keeping highly rated prospects under control as long as possible is a no brainer…
Is boob a code word for best GM in baseball?
Hahaha best? Cashman is far from that!
Cashman is firmly in the bottom half of GMs. The guy has had unlimited resources for almost 3 decades and as soon as the roids’ dried up so did the Yankees. Overpaying for past performance is the only thing he ranks high in!!!
Lol… The “roids haven’t dried up.. They are flourishing in the Yankees system.. And always have been.. The Miami roid machine is there and so is steroid Gomer, and spikes high roid rager Austin are just some prime examples..
Amen!!
Sorry but when people think of babe ruth they think of the Yankees. Not that cursed group of nitwits in Boston.
The point was Babe Ruth as a two way player, which he wasn’t with the NYY. Any nitwit would know that.
While you’re correct, he was used for his bat. Babe Ruth did pitch in at least 5 appearances for the Yankees and collected 5 wins.
I’m well aware.
And in those 5 games, he had more complete games than Severino has had in 56 starts.
They probably forgot to delete the part of the presentation showing them selling Ruth to the Yankees
Except they don’t. Only nearsighted dopes in NY feel that way. Ruth already had WS rings long before he was purchased by the Yankees.
“Dopes and Boobs” is this Grandpa Simpson?
Off my lawn dummy!!
Go D Backs. Enjoy the hangover.
Not if your a Boston fan……
Not if you’re a Boston fan……
Wait a minute!! Are you telling me that other teams wanted Ohtani to play for them?
What a pointless article from Silverman. If the 29 other teams “had their druthers” they’d have Ohtani as well.
The Boston Herald must be running out of material
The Herald is a joke for the most part but the point of the story was from Boston’s perspective. The Ruth comparison was the centerpiece of the article.
Duh
Only 27. Three teams didn’t want him for some reason
Seems he kinda ruled Philly out early…and they knew
MLB.com: What cities are you curious about and would like to see?
Ohtani: The Rocky Balboa statue, I want a picture of that.
MLB.com: Philadelphia has a baseball team, you know.
Ohtani: No, I just want to visit there.
m.mlb.com/news/article/262669080/a-february-qa-wit…
Ohtani was afraid of the cold and east coast in general. He said he wouldn’t sign with any team on the east coast. Give him 2 or 3 months and I’m sure he’ll be on the DL. Don’t dare compare him to babe Ruth! Not yet anyway!
venom……I would love to see a source for “He said he wouldn’t sign with any team on the east coast.” ….a quote from him or his agent…not a writers or GM’s speculation.
Yeah, he’s a more real 2-way player than Ruth ever was for the Yankees.
Ruth threw 31 innings, total, for New York, over 15 years. Lets not bring up how Ruth only faced guys throwing 75 MPH meatballs down the middle to him, too. The game now >>>>>>>> Ruth’s era.
Yeah. You can’t really compare today’s game to Ruth era besides throwing pitches and hitting baseballs.
Ruth’s era is closer to when catching a ball on one bounce was an out than today.
Can you imagine Ruth in his time, crowding the plate while wearing the batting helmet and body armor today’s hitters routinely wear? He’d have hit another 100 HR.
On the other hand, I am sure the physical conditioning and weight training used today would have been lost on him…
Ruth wasn’t exactly an elite athlete. He was outstanding for his time, obviously, but the game is much harder now.
justin-turner overdrive…..”Ruth only faced guys throwing 75 MPH meatballs down the middle to him, too. The game now >>>>>>>> Ruth’s era.”
Are you sure about that. Just as sure as Chapman’s 105.1 is the fastest.
You would be wrong.
That’s a big, steaming pile of stupid you dumped there, venom. Ohtani grew up near, and played in, Hokkaido, which is approximately the same latitude as New England. He knows very well what it is like to play in the cold.
His reasons for not signing with an East Coast team more likely have to do with proximity to home, which accounted for all teams except TEX and CHI being West Coast teams on his final list.
He apparently felt a connection with Eppler from the days Billy scouted him in Japan for the Yankees, so maybe if Eppler was GM instead of Cashman…?
No matter, he is right where he is supposed to be, which is to say away from no-nothing “fans” such as yourself who have no concept of what he is doing at age 23 in MLB.
He wanted to play on the West Coast because of its close proximity to Japan. It had nothing to do with cold weather in the east. Japan is not exactly SoCal
Ohtani is obviously good, but I would still be worried about his elbow. Anyway, wish him the best although he didnt go to the Yanks.
Oh really Cashman? You don’t care about Torres’ service when you have to wait like three weeks into the season to gain an extra year? I find that hard to believe.
“Here’s a great idea. Let’s show Ohtani an example from 100 years ago. That’ll really convince him.”