Blue Jays officials are “believed” to have met with Shohei Ohtani at the team’s complex in Dunedin on Monday, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. It’s the latest development in a free agency process shrouded in secrecy, as Ohtani’s camp has reportedly made clear that the superstar would hold it against teams if they leak pertinent information.
Speculation about Ohtani and the Jays heightened this afternoon when Toronto general manager Ross Atkins switched his media availability to a Zoom conference. Atkins declined to specify his location, but his absence from Nashville’s Winter Meetings indicated he had other priorities. The Jays called the matter a “scheduling conflict.”
Ohtani meeting with Jays’ officials, assuming that was indeed the case, affirms that they’re in the running for the AL MVP. Yet it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a clear favorite. Rosenthal adds that the Dodgers and Cubs are involved, with other teams possibly still under consideration.
To that end, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote this evening that there are “indications” Ohtani had met with Giants’ brass on Saturday. Team officials were spotted at Oracle Park, while Slusser wrote on Saturday of “rumblings” that Ohtani was in San Francisco.
As a result of Ohtani’s evident desire to keep the process as mysterious as possible, executives and coaches with every team involved have steadfastly remained quiet. Angels manager Ron Washington joked at his media availability today that he “didn’t have anything to say about (Ohtani’s free agency) right now, because (he didn’t) want to let anything out of the bag” (video provided by Beyond the Halo).
With Ohtani’s free agency contributing to a slow pace early in the offseason, many fans have hoped for a resolution at the Winter Meetings. That may not be coming. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote on Monday afternoon that Ohtani could continue meeting with interested teams beyond the conclusion of the meetings on Wednesday.
Yeee!!!!
Oh lord I think the dodgers price just went up
It’s already at 600 mil.
Somewhere in the world, there’s a sleeper agent that just got activated by this
Hippy – I think Ohtani just wanted to see the Dollar Store parking lot where McGuire got arrested.
All a smokescreen so the Dodgers can buy him like they buy everyone else
Like the time they bought Trout, Judge, Machado, Lindor, Tatis, Harper, Stanton, Seager, Cole, Devers, T.Turner, Bogaerts, Arenado….
Oh wait….
How bout the contracts for Machado, Tatis, Soto, Bogaerts, Kim?
I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of the Yankees buying everyone else… That hasn’t been the m.o. of Friedman for the last 10 years
Exactly when was it last that the Yankees “bought everyone else” on the free agent market?…..the last big money contract was Cole and there were multiple teams in on him hard……
Remember last year? That guy in right field?
So Yankees aren’t allowed to resign their own players? How is resigning Judge “buying everyone else”?
Drew – The correct answer would have been Rodon, a luxury at the time.
And a huge contract for a starting pitcher.
Fever Pitch Guy – Rodon wasn’t a luxury for the Yankees, he was meant to be an upgrade over Taillon.
bud – Dude that’s a laughable comment right there. Dodgers and Yankees have been around the Top 2 league payrolls forever, just the fact you’ve ignored the Freeman and Betts and Bauer contracts says it all.
And don’t even go there with “Mookie was an extension”. They were in a position to extend him only because other teams that wouldn’t have been able to extend him and wouldn’t have been able to take on the $48M for Price didn’t try to trade for him.
So Dodgers signed 3 players in the last 4 years, that’s buying everyone? Look at Tex or Philly my man. Then reevaluate your talk.
Why aren’t the Marlins in this “buying everyone” conversation? We bought Avi Garcia, Johnny Cueto, Jean Segura, and Jorge Soler.
Sure it has . For the right Guys. He backed up the truck for Betts and Freedman.
Who have they bought?
Sho…. Go to San Francisco. That Logan Webb dude is really cool. We will rename the ocean behind the stadium Ohtani’s pond
I saw a few articles that supposedly he was in San Fran on Saturday to meet with Melvin and Posey. He also started following Logan Webb on IG earlier today too. Like most Giants fans I’m in the ‘I’ll believe it when I see it phase’ and I still think he signs with the Dodgers
They added the San Fran article to the post
So the happy medium is signing in Toronto!
He’s getting the bidding up….and your hopes
If they got him they’d become the most beloved team in MLB. They already have an insane fan base. Ohtani is the most beloved player but his addition would make only a small number of teams the most popular and beloved.
lol what? By their own fans maybe. The Angels had Mike Trout and Ohtani for years and they weren’t “the most beloved team in baseball.” Not even the most beloved team in town. No, I don’t think Ohtani going to Toronto would make non-Jays fans magically love the Jays.
Catuli- you don’t speak for us Angel fans. Youre a typical snob Cub fan.
Naw, that award goes to Phillies fans!
they literally give away free d batteries to opposing team outfielders lol!!!
Really? I heard Angels fans once jumped a pregnant woman
Haha it reminds me of the simpsons Lionel Hutz. Works on contingency? No, money down.
Compared to dodgers fans that’s not saying much!
Dodgers fans love other teams fans so much they give out free comas to anyone wearing another team’s jersey.
Did he speak for Angel fans or are you being sensitive and projecting?
Reading isn’t fundamental, reading comprehension is.
Ohtani is going to re-sign with the Angels. I have said it over and over. If the Rangers can turn it around in two seasons, so can any team.
He may resign with the Angels, but they can not turn it around in 2 years. He will just forgoe the playoffs for the rest of his career..lol
@Carl Because the Angels suck that’s why. The Blue Jays are a good team.
When were the Blue Jays good? Define good? Good for Canada?
Toronto has a massive Asian community. It would explode for Shohei. Blue Jays would turn non-fans into fans instantly..
its – Toronto has 18,000 Japanese residents.
LA has 182,000
Fever – Toronto has nearly a million Asian residents, and more on the outskirts. Japanese or not, they will catch baseball fever like never before.
“New 2023 Census Data Shows That Asians Have Overtaken Whites as Largest Bay Area Racial Group” — 2,005,319
sfist.com/2023/05/25/new-census-data-shows-that-as…
There is no way there are a million Asian residents in Toronto. No way.
Redstitch – approximately 960,000 as of 2021 and climbing.
Not even close.
1. dodgers
2. Yankees
3. Braves
4. Red Sox
5. Mets
6. Cardinals
7. Maybe Blue Jays with Ohtani
What is this? Your list of the most universally beloved MLB teams? What’s your criteria?
“Beloved” fan bases generally run either Yankees or Cubs one and two based on independent research. Sorry other teams.
Yep. Cubs were on WGN radio for decades so there are tons of Cubs fans and families scattered around the country as can be seen at most of our away games.
Rosenthal trying to watch Toronto burn.
It’s funny, a few days ago both Rosenthal and Heyman said Toronto had “no chance”. Now they’re both saying Toronto the front-runner. What did they find out how big Toronto is or how big the Blue Jays’ owner is? Rosenthal was assuring people the Blue Jays lacked the financial resources to land such a big fish. But the Blue Jays owners are the wealthiest in sports, in North America at least.
Pending physical,
Reminds me of when Pinocchio tries to explain if he’d seen Shrek or not…
And it is an accurate portrayal of the reporting. HAHAHA
It’s pretty clear and has been for a while that it was going to be the Blue Jays. So this is just confirming the most heavily floated and unofficially confirmed rumors.
I was asked by a fellow baseball enthusiast a week and a half ago who I thought it’d be and I said “it’s very clearly going to be the Blue Jays” and they thought it’d be Seattle or the Giants, possibly the Dodgers- but it’s always been the Blue Jays.
baseball use to be a sport that average income people could afford a ticket to… Ohtani is single handedly going to ruin MLB!!!
You can usually get really cheap tickets on stubhub after a game starts.
You don’t understand economics
If Ohtani wanted it kept secret, this might mean Toronto and SF are out of it now.
It may have just been secrecy prior to Winter Meetings. This process has been so odd.
The teams haven’t leaked anything though, this is entirely media speculation.
The report wasn’t that Nez would hold it against them if they leaked it. It’s that Ohtani’s agent wants total secrecy to decrease the circus. Blue jays might not have been leaked to let people know but this is still a sign of how they operate.
Back in 2017, Nez had some extreme steps he required teams to take to sign Ohtani. This time seems even more so. I don’t think it bodes well for any team to have this out there. We’ll see if it pays of for SF or Toronto
Everyone is so negative in these… actually most comment sections no matter the subject (politics to sports). Whatever happens happens, all I know is people will simply be angry no matter the outcome of anything and they’ll be tough in their safe spaces. Ohtani on the Blue Jays or the Dodgers, who cares. Baseball will always be silly because of the small market/big market small budget/big budget endless spending and no cap and the only people who benefit from where anyone goes is the player and the organization. It’s just sport, enjoy.
So negative is bad but negative about negative is ok?!
@deep I need to be negative about your negative comment about Klowns’ negative comment about negative comments!
Reality check, Ohtani is going to be another Pujols fiasco for the team that signs him, as a Padres fan I hope he signs with the Dodgers
Ohtani was in San Francisco on Saturday. I think its down to the Blue Jays and the Giants.
I bet it’s a better indicator where his wife goes with her RE agent…
I guess we should take it as a good sign that Soto built a huge mansion next door to Machado last season then.
When you say Blue jays and Giants, do you mean Dodgers and Angels? Why would he go back east? If he wants to be with a winner that’s the Dodgers. Does San Francisco have more talent than the Angels? BTW… that city is on the verge of collapse– it’s a real mess.
@karla, please. LA is in a worse state than The City!
I saw this elsewhere:
Since the Blue Jays retractable roof domed stadium was opened in 1989, the Dodgers have won one World Series only, the pandemic shortened one; the Blue Jays have won two and in same period have often led the leagues for total attendance.. Their stadium is finishing a $300 million upgrade right now — no more football, baseball-only now with wider seats and more batting cages and pitching halls under the stands. The gauntlet is being tossed again.
At this point I just hope it isn’t the Dodgers because that would be too boring and predictable.
Ohtani plays over the OC, Ohtani plays over the C, Ohtani plays over the OC, so bring back Ohtani to me. Bring back, bring back, bring back Ohtani to me to me. Bring back, bring back, Bring back Ohtani to me!
I saw two sightings on the SF Ohtani Map over the weekend, once at Oracle, once on Valencia. Go Giants!
If Jays ownership has been convinced to pay big luxury penalties for Ohtani, they’d be serious players. Large Asian community around the Toronto area would flock to the Jays. Huge TV ratings, merchandise sales. Jays need more than Ohtani to win in 2024 which means more money to spend beyond what it will take to get Shohei to Toronto.
You think Asians are so xenophobic they will only like baseball if an Asian is playing. You are racist.
No. It’s a cultural phenomenon. When the Raptors became a playoff team in the early 2000’s we saw culture diversity within the fanbase that we have not seen with the Maple Leafs and, to an extent, the Jays. The emergence of Yao Ming played a part.
If you want to make this a race issue I’d say you are the racist. This is all about culture.
They have tons of money. Rogers’ profit last year was $7 billion (CDN) and they own all or over a third of teams in MLB, MLS, NHL, AHL, NBA and CFL. They have the biggest TV and radio sports networks in Canada, coast to coast. They know sports. They know when to hold them and when to fold them.
Pingston I guess you haven’t paid much attention to Rogers since they’ve owned the Jays since 2000. A lot of folding and unwillingness to go all out to be all in. More folding than you realize. Rogers will go over the lax, barely. Ask them to be the highest payroll in MLB? Well, if you must make an argument you should also ask why they haven’t in 23+ years.
They’ve also stopped growth in the team by not want to sell assets during times of rebuild.
Breaking News….Blue Jays in on Everyone…….
Seems to be that way every year for them.
At least they are out there trying/making calls on players available.
But as a Jays fan I still don’t think it will happen. I would LIKE for it to happen. My money is still on the Dodgers.
Also if they sign him, I don’t think they’ll be able to sign Bo or Vlad Jr to long term deals
I believe the Blue Jays will sign Ohtani and I believe if they have the opportunity they’ll trade Guerrero now or next year at this time. Bo I expect they’ll pay, along with, Soto, Alonso or Bellinger, whoever the other big bat is held by. Right now I expect Manoah to go to San Diego for Soto, which will lop a lot of spending off their budget and give them a potential Cy Young winner. But an alternate scenario sees him going to the Mets for Alsonso. For teams wanting to cut their payroll and pick up prospects, the Blue Jays have options. I believe if the Blue Jays weren’t a legit contender for Ohtani, as I’ve said for months, he wouldn’t have flown across the country to meet with them in Dunedin, but instead met at a LAX-area hotel. Crunch time. We’ll know soon and it will be interesting to see how fast the FA and trade markets move after Ohtani signs. Some teams will have budgeted money available for re-assignment, that appears clear.
Well, if Blue Jays sign him, then I was stupidly wrong. I’ll admit it, as I didn’t think it was possible and rhe others who told me were right and I was wrong.
That being said, I still don’t think he signs with the Blue Jays.
Shohei in the blue uniform is just not gonna happen. Sorry.
Twitter thinks Ron Washington’s comments signal his return the Angels.
Washington’s approach to answering Sam Blum’s questions is similar to Rendon’s. Wash just dropped “no habla” on him. LOL
twitter thinks a lot of stuff. 99% of it is laughably wrong (or causally racist)
Like the Blackhawk’s Corey Perry? Hahaha
Twitter had a lot of people convinced he hooked up with Bedard’s mom and that was the reason they released him.
The article reads “As a result of Ohtani’s evident desire to keep the process as mysterious as possible”
Or we could just say “because Ohtani wishes to keep discussions and negotiations private”, couldn’t we.
Shohei has every right to keep his negotiations secret. It’s hilarious how so many sports writers are complaining that they aren’t privy to the details.
This is all for a practical joke. Ohtani is going back to LAA
Yea, 1 year for 25 million. He’ll stay in LA and rot with trout.
Ron Washington being sarcastic because he knows the Angels have no chance at re-signing Ohtani. Not even for $700M over 9 years.
“Believed” to have met? Sounds like they’ve been fooled by an impostor.
Writers like Passan and Heyman especially will speculate anything just for clickbait, that’s why I’m pretty positive the Red Sox and Mets are still very much involved but they are respecting Ohtani’s wishes to keep matters private. Rosenthal I give more credit to, so I’ll add the Jays in now too.
Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, Giants, and Jays are my current 5 top teams in on Ohtani.
Ohtani make sure you understand the tax ramifications. 40+% is a lot to give away.
With respect to taxes.
1- Taxes are paid where the games are played so only Half is taxed at the home state-province rate.
2- If you look at top federal and state tax rates- Toronto is on par with NYC, LA, SF to name but a few.
The tax argument against Toronto is a fallacy it is no different then the teams mentioned and NYY or LA teams would have the same disadvantage against say the Rangers or Astros.
Blue Jays first team to leak “we’re in it.” Ohtani seeing the leak thinks, “not anymore.”
Ohtani to the Blue Jays would be neat. The Jays would be very marketable, and a fun squad to watch. It’d be cool seeing Jays jerseys popup everywhere.
Ohtani is not going to Toronto. The Jays will soon have to decide whether to overpay to keep their talent or rebuild. This time next year could be a fire sale in Toronto.
Soto for prospects makes more sense in what could the last year of the playoffs window closing in Toronto.
The pitching window is longer than one year. The Jays also have an abundance of infielders on the roster and on the way. Really all they need is LF and RF to keep the window going. They are not going to start a rebuild at the same time they spend $300M on the stadium.
What abundance of infielders – Davis Schneider? Ernie Clement? Cavan Biggio? Orelvis Martinez? None of them are meaningful enough to determine the Jays course as buyers or sellers in a post-Bichette scenario.
I doubt they’ll do another re-build. That approach is passe and disses one’s fan community. Instead, I expect the Blue Jays will keep spending on FAs and making trades to stay competitive. They can afford to add expensive FAs every year…
Ohtani’s gonna look good in Blue Jays baby blue uniforms. But I doubt he signs there because he has said he doesn’t like pitching at Yankee stadium and he’d have to pitch there a bit more often than he does right now. I guess he’s scared of fans that actually hold players accountable for poor performances.
Uh no supposedly Ohtani wanted any visits kept quiet. If this is as reported Giants, and Blue Jays are out.
@StreakingBlue
All of them are out of it. They’ve all had reports on meeting Ohtani. Guy’s overrated if he needs secret meetings.
Did you read the article? Neither the Giants or Jays have leaked anything. The meetings with the Jays and Giants are pure media speculation.
The Jays didn’t announce anything. It is speculation from the media based on where executives have been seen. Teams can’t control that. No figures on offers has been released. That is what would show they were doing the leaking.
Same with Giants. A photo taken by a random of Giants folk being dressed nicely at Oracle, is not a team leaking negotiation details.
Those baby blue unis are gross. Yuck.
Someone should make “where’s Waldo?” Book and add in an Ohtani in the stadium of all the teams he’s rumored to have visited
Yeah, Wait and see. And while they wait and see all the other Decent and Good Players sign elsewhere.
Don’t see him playing in cold Toronto. Dodgers or possibly San Fran who went hard for Judge. He goes to Giants a couple of other lower tier guys final. Eg Teoscar, Gurriel maybe Hoskins.
Toronto isn’t cold during the baseball season. Also they have a climate controlled stadium so he wouldn’t be playing in the cold anyway.
Cue the ohtani is overrated comments. Does it matter if he doesn’t want anything leaked. Most players probably feel the same way. Everything that’s coming out is probably false.
Yep. He doesn’t want us but Im ok with it because he is this, that or the other. There is going to be paragraphs and paragraphs of coping mechanism.
FWIW, isn’t Ohtani going to meet with 15 different teams?
I met with Ohtani 15 minutes ago. He said: “Get off my lawn.”
Now, in response to the title of this article and content, I am believed to have been in the same town as multiple celebrities that live here in Miami.
Ohtani is “believed” to have left something behind in a toilet in your city.
They call those Floatani’s
per ohtani’s agent, ohtani “just wanted to check out a tim hortons”
Believed in quotations is apex cringe
Ohtani to the Rockies on a one year deal to break bonds HR record.
If the Rumors are True, and Ohtoni is asking upwards of $500m, then move on from him. We have other needs and there are good Players out there that are a Hell of alot cheaper. Go after Belinger and Yamamoto and then get some other complimentary pieces to fill out the Roster.
I am hearing that Ohtani will be a Dodger soon. He has already made up his mind even though he and his representatives are doing due diligence. He is learning about other possible contract options not money oriented. He can already get all he wants moneywise from most interested clubs. #BlueJays #Dodgers
A month or so ago here I made the case why the Blue Jays should be considered a legitimate contender for Shohei Ohtani. My points were questioned and even challenged. I pointed to the mega reources of the Blue Jays parent, the monster media company Rogers Inc. that owns 37% of the Leafs, the Marlies, the Raptors, the Toronto FC soccer club and the Argonauts in the Canadian Football League and 100% of the Blue Jays and their stadium. I didn’t mention Rogers profit last year was over $7 billion (CDN) but recall mentioning their national radio and TV sports networks. I believe I also pointed out their $100 million training/recovery centre in Dunedin (now famous for the alleged meeting with Ohtani there on Sunday/Monday) and the currently concluding $300 million upgrade to Rogers Centre in Toronto where the team plays. It famously has a retractable dome, one of the first since Pittsburgh’s Igloo hockey arena (now demolished) which was convertible between football and baseball. The reno currently underway is making it baseball only and even the under-construction photos are really something. Workers say it’s nice work on such a big project inside in the cold weather…
So today I thought I’d bring things up-to-date as well as I can. The Blue Jays have the morning and apparently had a smart presentation in Dunedin. The Dodgers’ Roberts said his team met with Ohtani for two or three hours on Saturday. But the Jays apprently met Sunday night and most of Monday — private planes were tracked flying to and from Dunedin from Anaheim Sunday and late Monday afternoon. Ohtani is currently injured so facilities geared to injured and training athletes are likely big on his radar. Maybe the Dodgers have fancy recovery facilities in Chavez Ravine that a quick tour can show off but for such a long meeting in Dunedin it would appear the Blue Jays had a detailed presentation because all their staff were there and absent from the winter meetings in Nashville.
I have no inside info, just the confidence that the team was given its chance to show off Dunedin with Ohtani flying cross-country to see it meaning the Blue Jays pre-sold themselves as well.
No leaks yet have reeked of reality but one speculation was that the offer from the Blue Jays might include a house in Dunedin and overall could cost them upwards of $850 million Canadian dollars (though all MLB players are paid in USD).
I’ve read it could be a decison any time or next week. Who knows? Tougher the decision the longer, perhaps. But if you’re in injury recovery mode how soon do you want to pre-prep for Spring Training and how much of that can be in Japan vs the US.
I’m also interested in other moves by the Jays as they don’t seem shy about Free Agents or trades right now.
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