Will Dodgers Dave Roberts' gaffe allow SF Giants to sign Shohei Ohtani?
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is either remarkably confident that Shohei Ohtani (#1-ranked free agent) will sign with his team, or he may have helped the SF Giants by torpedoing the Dodgers' pitch. At the winter meetings, Roberts told reporters that the Dodgers had a meeting with the two-way Japanese star last week - and was almost immediately rebuked by his bosses.
"Roberts spoke freely and relaxed for 20 minutes, but the moment his media session ended, a stern text message on his cellphone awaited him," reported USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "He immediately huddled with Dodgers’ public relations officials to make sure he was no longer so candid. Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers' president of baseball operations, and GM Brandon Gomes each declined to even confirm they met with Ohtani."
Ohtani and his agent have asked teams to refrain from publicly sharing any details about their pursuit of him in free agents. Roberts barely paused before answering the reporters' questions about meeting with Ohtani. There was no tough questioning; Roberts simply volunteered the information, explaining himself merely by saying, "I'd like to be honest."
Just like when Ohtani originally chose the Los Angeles Angels after the 2017 season, he and his agent have insisted on high levels of secrecy. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, "If visits between Ohtani and a team are reported publicly, it will be held against the team."'
So either Roberts has screwed up majorly and Ohtani will hold the manager's candidness against the Dodgers, or Roberts is so confident that Ohtani will be in Dodger blue next year that he's disregarding the warnings. The reaction of the front office indicates they're afraid it's the former.
While The Athletic reported that Ohtani met with the Toronto Blue Jays Monday at their facility in Florida, no one would confirm it. Manager John Schneider responded to multiple questions merely by saying, "We meet with a lot of players," and refused to assign any significance to his new tan.
That's also the case with the Giants, who reportedly met with Ohtani Saturday in San Francisco, though no team official will comment. This doesn't mean Ohtani is necessarily coming to the Bay, but at least it means he won't not come to the Bay because someone yapped about it.
In other Ohtani news, the Chicago Cubs are expected to drop out of the Ohtani bidding, unwilling to meet his reported contract demands of $500 million for ten years. Of course, even if they weren't out before, they are now, since someone commented publicly.
The first rule of Shohei Ohtani Free Agency Club is you do not talk about Shohei Ohtani. The second rule is you do not talk about Shohei Ohtani! The third rule is no shoes, no mercy, which probably means don't bother sucking up to him by wearing New Balances.
The SF Giants are hoping Shohei Ohtani & Company are serious about their commitment to secrecy. Of course, if they know what's good for them, we'll never find out what they hoped, if they hoped at all, or who they hoped about. They hope about a lot of guys.
