Blue Jays Player Learned Shohei Ohtani Was Joining Dodgers Just Moments Before His Wedding

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah made a long-term commitment on his wedding day in December when he married his longtime girlfriend Marielena Manoah. 

But he was hoping his employer would tie the knot in similar fashion to a certain two-way superstar.

In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, Manoah revealed that he learned of Shohei Ohtani signing a record-breaking 10-year deal worth $700 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers just moments before he got married.

“I do remember right before I was going to go walk down the aisle,” Manoah told Stark. “My dad was like, ’We didn’t get Ohtani. He signed with the Dodgers.’ And I was like, ‘Damn, that sucks.’”

Manoah also told Stark that when he walked down the aisle, he spotted some Blue Jays teammates in attendance and mentioned the Ohtani news on his way to the altar. Everybody laughed.

Now that’s a wedding moment to remember.

It certainly wasn’t out of the question for Ohtani to land with the Blue Jays. Back in December, Toronto was reported to be among the three finalists to land Ohtani along with the Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels.

On Dec. 8, multiple MLB insiders reported that Ohtani had boarded a private jet from Southern California to Toronto to potentially sign a deal with the Blue Jays. However, it turned out to be Robert Herjavec on that private plane, a billionaire best known for his starring role on Shark Tank.

One day later, on Dec. 9, Ohtani signed the record-breaking deal with the Dodgers.