Shohei Ohtani’s locker in the Angels’ clubhouse was cleared of most of his personal belongings and equipment after the Angels’ 11-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday night, but the team declined to provide any further information on their injured star until Saturday. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The Shohei Sweepstakes
head this week to Music City, where the decision — or indecision — of the sport’s preeminent but enigmatic star on his free-agent destination will define the gathering of the baseball world in Nashville and the rest of its offseason.
The San Francisco Giants, finalists for him the first time around and desperately seeking a star, identified Ohtani as a priority this offseason. But as for their chances as the bidding possibly comes to a head this week?
Mum’s the word.
With MLB’s Winter Meetings set to begin Monday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that some initial suitors — the Rangers, Mets and Red Sox — had shifted their focus elsewhere. He identified the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Cubs and the incumbent Angels as teams confirmed to still be alive. The Giants? They “have long had a fondness for Ohtani, though where they stand in these sweepstakes is unknown.”
Whether by design, or simply the result of a generally airtight front office, the Giants are seemingly accommodating one of Ohtani’s wishes. Earlier this offseason, Passan reported Ohtani’s camp, led by agent Nez Balelo, would hold it against teams if word of their meetings got out.
The Giants’ interest, though, is more of an open secret.
Farhan Zaidi possibly faces more pressure than any other executive to land the big one, after being spurned in winters past by Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper.
Not only does Zaidi have the financial capital to match any offer — estimates range from $450 to $600 million, at lengths of up to 12 years — he also has the desire and arguably a stronger need than any other suitor for the services of the 29-year-old two-time MVP, even if he’s ruled out from pitching until 2025 after elbow surgery.
On the field, few hitters would do more to bolster a mix-and-match lineup that lacks the reliable punch that a slugger of Ohtani’s caliber provides. And, presuming a full recovery, the six-pitch right-hander would give Logan Webb the partner atop the rotation the Giants have long desired.
With 46 and 44 home runs in two of the past three seasons, Ohtani would attack McCovey Cove with a ferocity not seen since Barry Bonds (the last Giant to even reach 30 homers, in 2004, the longest dry spell in baseball). And yet, it may have been his 34-homer, second-place MVP season in between that was an even more impressive showcase of his abilities, finishing fourth in Cy Young voting while posting a 2.33 ERA over 28 starts, striking out 11.9 per nine innings, the highest rate in he majors.
But Ohtani is more than a baseball player. He is an ecosystem.
While he may command record-setting money, ESPN estimated that the revenue he generates from marketing, sponsorship and advertising deals to be in the “low tens of millions,” on top of any boost a sensation of his level may provide at the gate, something the once star-driven franchise has lacked since at least Buster Posey, if not Bonds.
The Giants aren’t blind to the attendance bump that most of the league got last season but didn’t make its way to China Basin. They drew barely 2.5 million fans, 17th out of the 30 teams and down 24% from 2017, the year their National League-record 530-game sellout streak ended. More importantly, it was up only a rounding error, 0.7%, from last year, while the league as a whole experienced almost a 10% increase.
For all the reasons that Ohtani makes sense is why he has all the leverage.
And very little is publicly known about his desires and intentions.
Ohtani hasn’t spoken to the press in four months, not since before the procedure on his elbow — the exact details of which are also a mystery — that ended his season. His scheduled availability following the announcement of his unanimous MVP award was canceled due to “technical difficulties.” While accepting various awards via videoconference on MLB Network, we’ve learned baseball’s most eligible bachelor is an owner of at least two pets, a dog and a cat.
Money has not been believed to be the end-all and be-all for Ohtani. He eschewed millions to come to the U.S. early in 2017, though he should have no trouble securing the richest deal in major-league history.
The Giants were among seven teams that were finalists back then — along with the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Mariners, Cubs and Rangers — with the prevailing opinion being that Ohtani preferred a market on the West Coast.
Maybe the biggest hurdle the Giants faced was the lack of the designated hitter in the National League at the time. That obstacle is gone, but what has transpired over the seven years has created another barrier for the Giants to overcome.
Ask Giants pitcher Alex Cobb, a former teammate and training partner of Ohtani’s, and he’ll say the same as many others close to him.
“You look for people to be the face of your franchise, not only as skilled, but off the field who they are. I’ve never been around somebody who wants to win more than Shohei,” Cobb said at the All-Star Game. “I would love to say I want to win as much as anybody. But he will do anything to win.”
At 23, Ohtani won Rookie of the Year. He has been named the MVP two of the past three seasons. Name an individual accolade, and he has amassed it or convinced everyone he could someday. He’s a worldwide sensation. The one thing that has eluded him is winning.
Ohtani has never played an inning of postseason baseball. He hasn’t played for a team that finished above .500.
That’s why the Dodgers, with 10 division titles and 11 playoff appearances in the past 11 seasons, have been the betting favorites since the start.
A Dodger deal gives Ohtani the same creature comforts as remaining with the Angels, while joining a lineup that already features Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The perennial contenders would get even better, though it wouldn’t address the more immediate need in their rotation.
The Giants have not shown to be much of a winner since Ohtani arrived in the majors, with only one more playoff appearance than the Angels in that span. They did themselves no favors with their finish last season, playing at a 106-loss pace over the final third of the season.
They are more than one piece, even an Ohtani-sized one, away from being World Series contenders, so they will have to sell him on their plan to build around him.
The Blue Jays can offer him an entire country, and the Cubs a historic home in a world-class city.
But only the Giants offer him an opportunity to become a savior while staying on the West Coast.
And, for all we know, that may be part of the allure.
Or, maybe he just likes the way he looks in blue.
Originally published at Evan Webeck