After droves of secrecy and anonymous reporting about secret meetings between Shohei Ohtani and various suitors, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts refreshingly came right out and told reporters that his club recently hosted Ohtani for a visit at Dodgers Stadium (link via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Roberts added that Ohtani is “clearly our top priority.” Asked why he was so direct when other clubs have gone to great measures to conceal their efforts to negotiate with Ohtani, Roberts replied (via MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince): “I don’t feel like lying is something I do. I was asked a question. … It’s going to come out at some point.”
The Dodgers have long been viewed as the likeliest team to sign Ohtani. That’s due to myriad factors, ranging from Ohtani’s prior preference for a West Coast club (during his original foray into MLB free agency) and the Dodgers’ virtually limitless payroll capabilities, among others. The L.A. front office declined to make designated hitter J.D. Martinez a qualifying offer on the heels of a resurgent 33-homer season, reportedly in large part to keep the DH spot in the lineup clear for a potential run at Ohtani.
Ohtani has drawn interest from a wide array of teams, as one would expect from the most prominent two-way star the sport has ever seen. Over the past few days, however, several clubs have appeared to believe their chances to land Ohtani have shrunk. The Red Sox, Mets and Rangers are said to have shifted their focus to other players, while just a couple hours ago it was reported that the Cubs’ optimism in their own pursuit has “significantly waned.”
The Dodgers currently project for a $157MM payroll, per Roster Resource, with just shy of $175MM of luxury tax obligations on the books. That leaves ample room to sign Ohtani without even reaching the $237MM tax threshold, although subsequent additions following a theoretical Ohtani deal could still put the Dodgers firmly into tax territory. That hasn’t been a concern for them in the past, however; the Dodgers have incurred luxury penalties each year since 2019.
Ohtani is believed to have had meetings with the Blue Jays and the Giants in recent days as well. Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco and the incumbent Angels are the four prominent names reported to remain in the bidding, although given the cloak-and-dagger nature of Ohtani’s free agency, it’s certainly possible there are other clubs still lurking in the mix to sign him.
All that just to lose in the NLDS every year. Gonna be so satisfying.
Such a pitiful existence, pathetic really.
Somebody’s mad his team can’t win in a real season…
Stop picking on Pirates fans.
Yea, what Viking said!!!!
Hes going back to the Angels. He will never see the postseason.
They’ve gotta win eventually!
Lol u really think that 5 yr ago they were a competitive team Ron Washington will put this together
The m are out new York team are out
C’mon, anything can happen. Rangers were terrible just 2 seasons ago, bow they are World Champs.
Thank U Roberts for running your mouth! The Angels did nothing but show Ohtani love from day one so I doubt he would sign with their cross town bitter enemies! He will go elseware or resign with the Angels!
I thought Disneyland was the Angels rivals…
Your ballpark dimensions make him signing with the Mariners a long shot! The Dipoto moves so far say he is trying to shed payroll which would say he’s trying to create room to afford Ohtani but still a long shot!
Nice.
Welp there goes the dodgers chances
If what was said is worth anything. lol
And if it’s really true or just a myth that Ohtani insists on such complete secrecy that nobody can know which teams he’s visited. As if that’s even happened so far.
News gets out. I think the secrecy thing is getting a little overblown. Saw people freaking out about the posts relating to Ohtani following Webb on IG
The fact that the Blue Jays won’t talk about speaks volumes.
It literally speaks nothing. I understand how much fun it can be to try to read the tea leaves, but really it can all get just a little goofy.
Really. All this hush hush doesn’t tell you things?
On what planet is this business as usual?
What hush hush? We know the teams he’s met with already and the teams that expressed interest and didn’t make his first cut. What else do you really expect to know? What he ate for lunch?
The Blue Jays GM leaves the Winter Meetings, doesn’t tell anyone he left the Winter Meetings and won’t tell anyone why he left the Winter Meetings.
What hush, hush? Seriously.
Seriously. The word got out anyway, just without being attributed to a person. Analysis paralysis.
It’s speculation. People are adding 1 +1 and getting two.
We still don’t know he met with Ohtani. That’s the point.
This is not business as usual. Of course you see that.
It’s all speculation! That’s my point. People are adding up invented numbers to come up with who knows what. At some point all the guesswork gets just plain silly. You see that too, don’t you?
But there is plenty of smoke, that’s my point. I think it’s true. There is too much smoke for this to be fabricated.
What I don’t understand is why Roberts would handle this way.
Exactly. Even if Ohtani’s demand was true I’m assuming he’s talking about numbers, etc, not simply confirming a meeting
Because it isn’t true? Not even worth considering?
Smile.
with the Dodgers’ luck, they sign Ohtani and he goes down during spring training and is out for the season.
Don’t jinx the team. Please disregard these comments karma gods 🙂
Or gets suspended for some weird ________ with a ________. (Just fill in the blanks with whatever will generate the most click bait).
If Ohtani was in accused like the Bauer situation they wouldn’t suspend Ohtani.
🙁
I am shocked, SHOCKED!
Not quite sure what you’re shocked about but for me its Roberts’ openness about Blue’s level of interest in him. Why? LA already draws well and year in-n-out they typically win a lot of games.
What more can an Ohtani offer a team that is this successful? Heck not a single playoff appearance to date from him; so hard to invision him getting them over that full season WS hump.
RE CYJ
“not a single playoff appearance to date from him; ”
I think you myself that it’s hard to believe that people into baseball enough to be commenting in December are this ignorant, but, then I remember some people believe the world is round still, so…
Earth is clearly penis shaped and Ohtani still hasn’t played in an MLB postseason.
MS
I mean, perhaps your penis is earth-shaped and only as long as it is wide.
And based on this comment, your brain doesn’t seem much more impressive
filihok: good morning. I see you lifted part of my post. Can’t tell if you are complimentary or critical of it? Me and my best gal, Clara Fication, r inquiring. Cheers.
CYJ
I think it’s very dumb to question Ohtani’s talent because he’s never been surrounded by good teammates
filihok; my bad. Please know I do not question his talent. Im not a fan of the two player angle. Think it is disruptive to a teams chemistry. So not a fan of signing him to a 500 mil deal to play as a two way guy. That said, sign him just to hit and pay him accordingly.I think is that’s fine.
CYJ
“Think it is disruptive to a teams chemistry.”
Why do you think that?
And why did you say this
“not a single playoff appearance to date from him; ”
I honestly think it would be a huge embarrassment to LAD if they do not sign Ohtani.
I just hope if the Dodgers do sign him he will still be able to pitch again at the same level.
How so? Ohtani isn’t obligated to sign with them – if he wants to go elsewhere, that’s not on the Dodgers.
It will be even more embarrassing when he signs with the Giants
To be fair, the embarrassment is probably worse for the Padres – other teams in the division are trying to acquire talent, while they are focused on shipping out their prized outfielder that they “won the offseason” with not so long ago. Must be hard seeing a team go from hyped up to fizzling out, so fast.
You got that backwards. Everyone else wants their top player and is reaching out to the Padres. The Padres have not said we want to trade Soto. They have only said what any good GM would say, we will listen on any player.
Cashman is especially desperate to get Soto and its not happening. Preller cut off negotiations and told the him to go pound sand.
Padres from the interim control person to the brother of Peter Seidler to the CEO to the GM to the manager have been consistent in saying they are going to run the team in the same manner Peter Seidler did and go for a WS title in 2024 and for the foreseeable future.
But somehow YOU think you know better than they do.
Must be hard being that delusional.
To be fair, neither of us are in the room with Preller and Cashman – as you say, I may not know better than they do, but one thing I do know for sure, is that you don’t know any better either.
You’re a brave man putting all of your faith in the words of the front office and ownership – let’s just hope the Padres are more competitive next year.
I wouldn’t be so sure that the talks with the yanks on Soto are dead and buried. There are so many moving parts that affect the landscape here and walking away from the table temporarily is a classic negotiating tactic. There are any number of teams that would like to have Soto but the combination of money roster fit and trade capital narrows the field down quite a bit.
Didn’t the Madres acquire Soto at the deadline, not in the offseason.
Yeah – correction, they won the deadline, not the off-season.
When the entire organization is consistent in their statements its a far safer bet believing them than believing the media that is not in the room.
As far as Cashman and Preller not currently talking about a trade for Soto, we know that Cashman said in his presser that the negotiations were off and that the Padres were not willing to budge on their ask. So that much is a given. Cashman acknowledged it.
On that point, I am going off what Cashman said in his presser. As of today the negotiations are kaput. Will they resume? Who knows. Cashman is desperate, so its likely he will reach back out. The Padres on the other hand are happy to start the season with Soto in the lineup.
…. Yet, nobody seems to be able to stop talking about the Padres.
Hey there’s every chance ur right and the Verdugo deal may be a pivot from the talks but cash saying that in a presser could be a move and could just be a snapshot of the moment. That’s what’s fun about hot stove season.
This is like the Mariners in 2001 when they won 116 regular season games but couldn’t get to the World Series. Everyone expects you to win but this is baseball – anything can happen. Ohtani can end up in Toronto (the team & ownership has a bigger incentive than the LAD have).
I just hope to God that the Cubs said that because of Ohtani and not because the bidding got too high. That would really piss me off.
One player taking up a larger percentage in total payroll is a plausible reason to move on. Everyone has their limit.
Yeah man. Like… just do it? The rest of us are waiting to do stuff so if we could get moving on Ohtani going to the place he was always going to go, that would be great.
I heard Robert’s ordered a Pepsi. Ohtani is more of a Coca Cola guy, Dodgers are outside shot now.
If it’s whispered, we hear it!
With this announcement you can remove the Dodgers from the list. The Blue Jays, Cubs, and Dodgers removed from the potential suitors within the last 24 hours. Looks like it’s down to the NY teams, Giants, Padres, and M’s.
You clearly don’t get the joke. It’s only the teams that have confirmed to have met with Ohtani that are out. That means Dodgers, Giants, Jays
Jawinks, I’m hoping you replied to the wrong person…. If not, you might want to give those 30ish words another read.
The Giants and Jays haven’t confirmed anything. All we have are vague rumors that he met with those teams.
Most likely he will end up on Los Karens after giving Toronto fans hope.
god i would love that honestly
the audacity of toronto to think the best player on the planet wants to play in their lame turf dome and send half his money to Uncle Canada and watch vladdy jr ground out every day
Same tax rate as California roughly and what does turf have to do with a pitcher and DH.
i dunno man, i don’t like the blue jays ok i’m just riffing over here
My apologies, carry on talking out of your arse.
thank u sir
The audacity of American fans that dismiss the jays chances outright is absurd.
Is it too cold to plant grass? The 80s are over!!
It is the Dome that prevents it I think. They did a study a while back on the feasibility of putting in grass. Not entirely sure what came out of it, but I’m guessing it was either too expensive to retrofit it for grass or it just didn’t work.
Also you are aware that it is usually around 20-30 degrees Celsius in the summer here. Also plenty of grass.
Artificial turf saves water, too, eh?
Good, hope the greatest fiscal loss of MLB history belongs to the Dodgers!!
Should be interesting.
The Dodgers will end up paying 450 M+, just for the right to go and work for Ohtani.
Right after Roberts said that, Ohtani’s agent rapped him across the knuckles with a ruler.
Tomorrows headline
Dave Roberts has been relieved of his duties as skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers due to “philosophical differences” between him and the front office.
Losing in the playoffs doesn’t get you fired
Not listening to ohtanis wishes just may
if only
No thank you!
Yeah why would you want the best player in the history of the sport on your team? It’s just crazy.
What exactly has he done to achieve that honor?
DDC
“What exactly has he done to achieve that honor?”
Well, he’s one of the best hitters of this era and also a very good pitcher. Combined, that makes him the best current player overall
From there, it’s not a stretch to say that since today’s players are better than players from the past, he’s the best player of all time.
Let me know when the best player of all time records a postseason hit.
Didn’t know Ohtani pitches every day 9+ innings all 162 games and bats 27+ times a game. That’s impressive
DDC
“Let me know when the best player of all time records a postseason hit.”
Travis Jankowski had 2 just this World Series
If you think that makes him a better player than Ohtani, I don’t like you enough to try and help you look less like an idiot
Nöw, you might go the “Did I say…” route.
To which I’ll reply, if you didn’t then your statement about post season hits was meaningless.
It doesn’t make Travis a better player but when you’re comparing Ohtani to all time greats who have won multiple world series. The postseason does matter.
DDC
“when you’re comparing Ohtani to all time greats who have won multiple world series. The postseason does matter.”
Why? Enlighten me
Not a fan of any of the team in the running for his services but agree with you. The young man is amazing
Guess I’ll never understand why the Angels could never surround him with more than Trout these past few years
I still think he goes to LAD to and up untill last night i had zero faith my blue jays had a chance. Now i think there 2nd to the LAD, i think his deal ends up being something like 580/12 now. Thats 48.33 a year and if he averages 6 WAR per year over the first 8 years at 10-12 per WAR the contract pays for its self. Its got about 26-27 WAR over the last 3 years thats 8+ per year so 6 is quite possible
truefacts dot com
We’re all here for the juicy rumors. I’d be a bit disappointed if I read about players actually signing because that’s not the name of this website.
Good for Roberts for telling the truth. It must be nice to have an honest manager instead of a cheat.
Well, I guess you can rule out the Dodgers now.
Super stars don’t win championships in baseball, maybe basketball, but not baseball!!! Teams that win championships with super stars just happen to have them, but also have incredible depth in the 40 man roster and quite a bit of luck, always! Super stars are for hanging stadium banners and good looking ticket graphics!!!!
They sure can help.
RE Cs
“They sure can help.”
The gulf between “Ohtani sucks because the Angels suck” and “Good players don’t actually help you” that exists on the website is depressing.
There’s not a hint of nuance or understanding probabilities.
Great baseball player! The best in the game today! Still wouldn’t want him for 500 million plus. Not worth that kind of money sorry. That contract will be like a disease after the third year
You just don’t understand the economics of baseball. He is worth well over $100 million per year in increased attendance, ticket prices, ad revenue, merchandise sales etc. Without him the Angels will lose at least $60 million per year in revenue
They will win in the long term as they may be able to actually build a winning team. If that happens the fans will happily attend. The angels can’t win with them together. If I was an angels fan I would say see ya!!
Yes. Signing Ohtani will make the owner of the team very very very rich.
Will he commit to winning, spending over the tax penalty year after year to keep the team competitive that next 10-15 years, wastes millions and millions of dollars in taxes associated with tax penalties to do so? Time will tell.
You are so wrong it hurts.
Merchandise revenue is split, the Dodgers don’t get any extra money for Ohtani Jersys not sold in their team store.
Why do fans think the Dodgers, or any team owns their Jerseys?
I guess Roberts either doesn’t want Ohtani or knows he has already chosen another team. Hopefully the Blue Jays.
There is a big difference between lying and not disclosing things.
Why would anyone want to play for someone who discloses things?
Things?
Such as you met with Ohtani when Ohtani didn’t want teams to talk about it.
Does he not want Ohtani. Talk about stupid..
Ohtani needs to trust the organization. Did Robert’s break that trust? If I asked the Dodgers to be quiet, and Robert’s opened his mouth, I’d be pissed.
Unless he wanted to sabotage negotiations, It was pretty darn stupid.
Fact, or myth? I’m going with myth. We’ve already heard about at least two other team meetings. Seems to me a person buys more trust with honesty than with deception. But I guess those are antique values any more.
Roberts should have refused to answer. What is he, a six year old?
I would say a grownup.
So happy to hear-Dave might now be my favorite manager with a job. He’s kinda like, Enough Diva behavior, I ain’t lying. Don’t want the most money, than don’t take it Japanese Babe Ruth.
Drugs ^
I’m jealous. Reality can be such a drag.
Shohei’s camp: ‘we will look down on you if you leak any meetings’
Dave Roberts:
It’s almost as though it has been forgotten that Ohtani turns 30 during next season and won’t even pitch again until 2025. His contract is a disaster and it hasn’t even been signed yet. But the Dodgers are searching hard for that first World Series title since 1988.
Yawn
Two different points. One is Roberts being an idiot, the other is Ohtani’s worth.
🙁
Ohtani is rumored to be removing teams from possibility for leaking info to the press. Does this mean that the Dodgers are now out of the running?
I can appreciate Dave’s honesty, everyone else is hush hush about their pursuit of Ohtani.
most prominent two way player the sport has ever seen? wow. yea let’s compare a guy with 150 career Homer’s and averages 65 innings pitched per season, to the greatest player in history. The BABE and it ain’t close.
To be fair Babe Ruth didn’t start hitting a ton of homeruns until he stopped pitching. He only hit more than 20 once while still pitching and that was 29 in 1919. His really big offensive seasons came once he no longer had to focus on pitching.
Ohtani still has a ways to go to match his overall body of work though.
to be fair his 1919 season, no team had 20 homers. His hitting was the reason they stopped his pitching. Ruth would have rivaled the best pitcher ever, had this not occurred. I would have been embarrassed to have written this arcticle.
That didn’t last long. Once everyone saw Ruth doing it a lot more players started swinging for the fence.
Also Ruth never really put his body through the strain of hitting and pitching full time at the same time. He only had over 400 AB while pitching in the same season once.
The talent pool was a lot smaller back then as well. Since the leagues were segregated the difference in talent between the top players and the bottom of the barrel was huge. Ruth was taking AB against guys would have no shot at reaching the majors or even the minors today.
Like I said though Ohtani has a way to go. I just don’t think it as out of reach as you think it is.
Please keep talking Doc
I’m here for the comments
I’m here for the cookies. Where are the cookies?
Babe Ruth doesn’t count. The worst team in college baseball would plow the 1930s Yankees and any other babe Ruth era ballplayer
Don’t compare Ruth to a modern player
Transport any team today back to the 1920s and have them play under the same conditions and they would most likely suck.. For example, in the 1920s, pitchers were expected to pitch complete games and pitch every four days. For his pitching career, Babe Ruth threw 107 complete games out of the 147 he started. Granted, pitchers of that era benefited from the ball not being removed from play if it touches the dirt or, god forbid, the batter actually hits it. It is easier to hit a fresh ball for a home run than a worn ball. The game was very different.. Imagine today’s players not having trainers, nutritionist, decent pay check, etc. Would they be the same?
Comparing players from different eras is a beer and pretzel exercise. The game has changed significantly over time as have the conditions it is played under. While comparing players from different eras may be fun, it is meaningless due to the changes.
One interesting thing I once read about Babe Ruth is that he was believed to have 20/10 vision or significantly better eyesight than other people.
Doc needs to shut up. We all know Ohtani met with LAD. This and the Mookie comments yesterday are just not helpful. These observations are just not necessary and could well be counterproductive. Sheeesh, this is just idiotic.
He’s a blue jay 100%
For all the previous reports saying he doesn’t want his FA process to be leaked their are a lot of reports about his FA process today
Roberts recently met with Ohtani and told him he’ll be the team’s starting Shortstop…
It’s possible that the deal’s nearly done with the Dodgers and that’s why DR acknowledged discussions.
Roberts routinely lies about injury status so his claim that he doesn’t is pretty funny.
That was my first thought. Dave might know it’s a done deal somewhere. Suppose we will find out soon if that’s the case
Or the opposite is true – that the Dodgers are out but want to incentivize other teams to overbid by making it appear they’re still in it.
You earned a frowny. 🙁
You’re absolutely correct PierceIn. It’s just laughable that he tries to cover himself by claiming to be “honest”. No Manager, ever, answers media questions forthrightly, revealing everything they know. That’s just an absurd claim. I have always liked Doc because he is a straight shooter with his players and he has always had their respect for the most part. It’s why his panic driven, overmanaging in playoff games has been overlooked by the front office, I suspect.
I think the Dodgers are better off with Yamamoto anyway.
Hopefully he is just using us to run up the up the money in the deal to whatever desperate team signs him.
The Mets are going to grab Yamamoto.
it looks like Seattle is clearing the field for something big…
If they keep it up, the Ms are gonna need a nine-way player, tho!
Can’t wait for Roberts to pull him in the 4th inning with a 5-1 lead after he walks the lead off hitter. Oh the look he will get
Hey, he’s just being honest!
Dodgers have no chance. He’ll sign a 5 year deal with the Cards for a discount so he can win another championship with Noot.
Roberts got giddy and ran his mouth to the press guaranteeing a world championship a couple seasons ago. That cost him and the team only embarrassment and ridicule. He’s not always circumspect and I hope this is not another, costlier, face-palm for the Dodgers.
Dave Roberts love!
Screw playing secret squirrel and having to lie about just having a meeting with a player who’s a FA!
If some jerk agent and his client wanna play games and hold grudges screw em, let him play for a team no where near a WS as LA, like Anaheim or San Fran.
Hey Scott, why couldn’t Roberts have said that he can’t answer the question at this time? Does Roberts like the attention? Seriously, is it that hard to say nothing? It makes sense that Ohtani wouldn’t want a lot of chatter and it is in line with his personality since being with the Angels.
Roberts just lost Ohtani for the Dodgers
Hope he signs with Toronto or the Yankees now.
Yankees can’t really sign him as they’re stuck with Stanton at DH, which is why they’ve shown little interest.
If so, I applaud him. And if it costs him his job, that is just a bonus.
I think we might be missing something here….
Both born in Japan – They understand Japanese Culture – Honesty, Courage and Respect are a big part of their CULTURE. He signs with the Dodgers. Just my humble opinion. Ohtani will respect that. Doc probably told him, “You get it Ohtani, If they ask me, I ain’t gonna lie – Welcome to Dodger Stadium!”
More to follow…….. I can’t WAIT to get thrashed on this thread….
Not just born in Japan, Dave Roberts is half-Japanese.
Roger That – I should have added that in my post. I assumed that was already known by most….
unfortunately the Japanese part appears dormant
Ohtani is testing the trust of a new organization. If they can’t be trusted not to speak during this process, they cannot be trusted, period. Ohtani is hardly the first player to use this tactic, he’s just so high profile it’s become apparent to even the most casual observers, like the commenters on this site.
Good thing I’m not a casual observer….. True Dodger Blue and a Fan of baseball since 1962! He’ll be a Dodger…… Dave’s comments or not.
“Cloak and dagger?”
Baseball Noir.
If the Dodgers want Ohtani, they’re going to get him. But I have a suspicion Friedman isn’t going to want to put so many eggs in one basket, despite the fact that they have a ton more money they can spend than their division rivals the Padres and Giants.
No Ohtani.
It’s what a manager should do…you cannot have a player dictating the terms of the organization, he is a player and though the organization should never disclose personal information, they have every right to disclose their business actions. If a simple statement of saying they met with him takes the Dodgers off the table, good luck to the organization who does sign him.
Yes, this. A lot is being made of Friedman and Gomes refusing to comment but Front Office personnel who negotiate with free agents are forbidden by the rules to comment on contract talks. The manager isn’t as constrained, and he didn’t say anything that could prejudice this one anyway unless the player makes it an issue. And good luck to any team that signs one who does.
Apparently there was some ashen faces and a huddle with the Dodgers PR people after the presser. Naughty Dave might have got that ruler over the knuckles….
Dave will be flogged accordingly..