They thought they had him.
The 2023 free agency period centered around Shohei Ohtani. Perhaps the most gifted player in the history of the sport was a free agent, and that gave a host of franchises the opportunity to showcase why the iconic athlete should sign with them.
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Various reports seemed to indicate that Ohtani narrowed his focus to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Ohtani could stay on the West Coast and feature for a juggernaut — or he could head east and represent the flagship team of an entire country. Either opportunity seemed to present some real benefits business-wise as well as on the field.
Ultimately, despite the postings of flight logs and and utter hysteria, Ohtani signed with the Dodgers much to the chagrin of the roughly three million people living in Toronto and nearly 42 million in the country of Canada.
Ohtani’s return to Toronto as an opponent in the World Series will be an interesting one. Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked about Ohtani and the entire recruitment process from last season. He made a statement that likely was meant as a joke — though the somewhat deadpanned manner in which it was delivered had more than a handful of people talking.
“I’ll say it again, I hope [Ohtani] brought his hat, the Blue Jays hat that he took from us in our meeting, I hope he brought it back finally — and the jacket for Decoy, you know, it’s like, give us our stuff back already,” Schneider said.
This was surely some good-natured ribbing from Toronto’s skipper even if it came off a bit strange in nature.
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As Schneider divulged, Ohtani met with the franchise and gave the Blue Jays real consideration. As fate would have it, Ohtani will be involved in a World Series appearance in Toronto…just with the other team on the field.
Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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2 Responses
Toronto or Canada or Christian Murderers or Socialists or American rip off Artists who Loved Tariff’s that benefited Canadians only can Go FISH….
I Hope Dodgers Kick their A-Holes, Real Good!
I’m part Canadian from my Grandfather’s side and literally don’t Appreciate the Canadian Government. I don’t much care for US Congress either, both are Corrupt.
well, you got the right to yer opinion. couldn’t disagree more, but you do you, boo.