Mets Fan Made a Prophetic Plea to Sign Shohei Ohtani in 2012

You know that saying "another man's trash is another man's treasure?

Well, that wasn't the case for Shohei Ohtani over a decade ago, but he certainly wasn't the worldwide sensation he is now in 2012.

To take you in a time machine back 11 years ago, an 18 year old Ohtani was playing his first season for the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Yes, back then he was a two-way player for the Fighters, but with a modest slash line of .238/.284/.376 at the plate with a below average 4.23 ERA on the mound, the recently graduated high schooler showed potential all those years ago, but wasn't on every MLB team's immediate radar all those years ago.

Ohtani had made it known that he wanted to come stateside as a teenager, but back then not many organizations were interested in his services.

But at least one Mets fan was all in on Ohtani, so much so that he sent a tweet to then-Mets general manager Sandy Alderson to sign the newly-minted pro right then.

@MetsGM Hey Sandy. YOU HAVE TO SIGN THIS GUY! Shohei Otani is an 18 y/o in Japan who throws 100 MPH. Get him before another team does. #Mets
— The Draftnik (@draftniks) August 5, 2012

That might have been a bold proposition back then, but with the benefit of hindsight it surely worked out for the Angels.

As to how the fan became an "Ohtani whisperer" before the rest of the US came to admire his play, 25 year old Sadaab Rahman from Queens, New York told me via Twitter that he first kept an eye on the young kid before he even played in the NPB.

I became a fan of Ohtani before he got drafted in the NPB because I heard whispers that he was telling major league teams he wanted to sign at the age of 18 and forego the draft in Japan. At the time, no team was willing to take that big a chance on him and let him do what he loved - which was be a two way player so that forced [him] to stay in Asia.

But he was on my radar as a kid throwing triple digits as a teenager but from the little that I saw, I actually liked him as a hitter maybe slightly more and envisioned that arm in right field and the mound on some days. Needless to say, I couldn't believe he wasn't getting the opportunity to do both in America because I saw him as becoming as dominant as [Yu] Darvish, but thinking it would take more time than the bat.

He's become better than anyone could have imagined and I actually think he's getting better the more MLB pitching he sees. My thoughts on him are pretty much the same as it was back then - that he's a world class hitter, especially for power and his eye, and steadily improving pitcher who's already ace caliber.

Ohtani ultimately came over to the US in 2017 as a 23 year old, signing with the Halos over a variety of other MLB suitors.

While the Angels haven't reached the playoffs with Ohtani in the fold, Rahman was entirely correct in his assessment as he's established himself as one of the best players in MLB, and he's arguably on pace to become of the best baseball players of all time given his skill set.

He ran away with the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Award, looks to be well on his way to a second AL MVP Award, will be playing in his third MLB All Star Game this July, and has the Angels in contention to make their first postseason appearance since 2014.

Shohei Ohtani's night:
2 HR as a batter
10 Ks as a pitcher. 😱 pic.twitter.com/Bzm0Q3qvKF
— MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2023

Not bad for a five and a half season stretch.

As for the Mets, things have taken a turn for the worse of late. A combination of injuries and poor performance have them sitting seven games under .500 as of this writing, eight games out of a Wild Card spot, and looking very much like a team that could be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline as opposed to preparing for a run in October.

Could signing a young Ohtani have changed the Mets fortunes? Probably.

But the Angels are certainly glad that New York didn't take the advice of one fan with quite the keen eye for talent.

And that's a great scouting report on a baseball icon from a fan who told me that he has aspirations of becoming a scout. He definitely did better than most talent evaluators with that one -- Mets included.