![]() Ohtani is the crown jewel of this year's free agent class, which appears a little short on franchise-altering players, particularly among hitters. ![]() “We will definitely ask questions, though.” Then he said what pretty much every GM in Arizona was saying this week. “I would love to have him, but are we going to go out and pursue Ohtani? We may ask some questions, but I can’t tell you we’re diving all in.” “He brings so much to the game, so much excitement, he’s got a fan base, he’s an exciting player," said Brown, the Astros GM. Instead of setting the free agent market this offseason, Ohtani is a market all his own. Ohtani has reached a celebrity status that few other current baseball players can even imagine, and his arrival in any city would undoubtedly mean a huge boost for fan interest. There’s also an off-the-field component that can’t totally be quantified. He’s also a good enough athlete that he could be an option for first base or the outfield as he gets older. Current Dodgers star Walker Buehler - who recently had his second TJ surgery - hopes to join that group.Įven if Ohtani can’t contribute much on the mound, he’s one of the game’s elite hitters. Two-time All-Star Jason Isringhausen had the surgery three times and still came back to have a few more solid seasons. Recent World Series winner Nathan Eovaldi, Jameson Taillon and Daniel Hudson are a handful who have had success. He had Tommy John surgery in September for the second time in six years, and the list of pitchers who have successfully returned after having the procedure done twice is fairly short. It’s unclear how much value he’ll provide as a pitcher in the coming seasons. 304 with 44 homers while also having a 10-5 record on the mound with a 3.14 ERA. He’s 29 years old and just produced one of the best two-way seasons in MLB history, batting. Ohtani is one of the most fascinating cases for baseball’s free agency system since it began in 1976. ![]() We've got our plan and we're going to try to execute that plan and see where it leads us.” “There's going to be a lot of attention on it and I understand why,” Angels GM Perry Minasian said. But publicly, questions about the potentially historic bidding have been met with careful statements.Įven the team that employed the Japanese sensation the past six seasons - the Los Angeles Angels - doesn't seem to have a good read on his future. Privately, they're surely discussing the developing Ohtani sweepstakes, which could cost the winning team upward of $500 million. “We may ask some questions, but I can’t tell you we’re diving all in,” Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown said.Īll 30 Major League Baseball general managers have gathered this week at baseball's GM meetings in Scottsdale. “We’re going to be interested in looking at everything that’s available that can make us better,” New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “Special player, that’s all I’ll say,” said Chris Young, general manager of the World Series champion Texas Rangers. The race to add two-way baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani in a blockbuster free agency deal is off to a clandestine start.
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