Blue Jays now facing the downside of going all-in for Ohtani and missing out
TORONTO – There’s a draw back to the plain upside of going all-in for a participant that captures the creativeness the way in which solely Shohei Ohtani does, and it’s the magnitude of the loss should you occur to go bust.
After all, lacking out on gamers, from middling to marquee, is much from new for the Toronto Blue Jays. Just final 12 months, for example, they aggressively pursued free-agent lefty Andrew Heaney for a second straight low season just for him to finish up with the Texas Rangers. They wanted three tries on the open market to land 2023 Cy Young Award finalist Kevin Gausman. Gerrit Cole was locked in on the New York Yankees when the Blue Jays tried to have interaction him within the winter of 2019. And bear in mind the mania round Yu Darvish when he was first posted below the previous blind-bid system?
No different participant pursuit, nevertheless, compares to shedding out on Ohtani, who on Saturday agreed to phrases on a $700-million, 10-year take care of the Los Angeles Dodgers, considered the richest contract ever in skilled sports activities. In trade jargon, the two-way celebrity is a singular alternative, a transformational drive, not simply on the diamond, the place it issues, but in addition on the business finish of the sport, the place it issues simply as a lot, or on this case, possibly much more.
Hence, there are not any options even remotely corresponding to Ohtani, no locations the place the Blue Jays can pivot to search out somebody who can present the same degree of affect to the lineup, ticket gross sales and aggressive window.
The disappointment, then, is uncooked, infuriating, gutting, particularly for a fanbase that’s already endured a season-and-a-half with their crew stationed elsewhere, the one-game-short dagger of 2021, the blown 8-1 lead of Game 2 towards the Seattle Mariners in 2022, plus the pulling-Jose-Berrios debacle of Game 2 towards the Minnesota Twins through the silent-bat season of 2023.
Now there’s this, too. It’s actually quite a bit in a short while span.
The different, nevertheless, is for the Blue Jays to not have tried, to not have poured all their efforts into what was all-along a low-probability shot at protecting Ohtani from the Dodgers, for 2 years the trade’s consensus decide for his touchdown spot. Whether taking part in it protected on the sidelines is best than taking the prospect and failing is for everybody to determine themselves, however from this vantage level, the latter is much preferrable to the previous.
At minimal, they appear to have achieved sufficient to drive the Dodgers to ante up properly past the half-a-billion {dollars} it had been anticipated that touchdown his providers would require (even with an unprecedented set of deferrals, included at Ohtani’s behest to assist hold the crew aggressive).
Their pitch introduced Ohtani on a go to to the Blue Jays’ Player Development Complex on Monday, which relying in your viewpoint, is an indication of his real curiosity, or a trek he made that was strategically leaked to make sure the Dodgers believed they’d a real stalking horse.
Either approach, the Blue Jays exhausted the chance, as they need to have, simply in case.
The fallout although, past the speedy emotion of all of it, is critical.
While the market remains to be comparatively untouched for early December, the pathways to including core place gamers that stretch the present aggressive window is much extra sophisticated. Reupping with third baseman Matt Chapman or free-agent centre-fielder Cody Bellinger, at 28, would match the invoice, however barring a sneaky and dear commerce, they’re probably taking a look at shorter-term provides.
That isn’t essentially a foul factor, but it surely punts the longer-term questions the Blue Jays are going through – the looming free companies of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette after 2025 – down the street at a time they’re promoting the premium seating being created by the present $300-million-plus renovation.
A high-end, core-extending play on the pitching aspect could be starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 25, who would create rotation surplus that could possibly be used to amass offence in commerce, however his market could also be extra aggressive than Ohtani’s and is particularly deep.
Whichever route the Blue Jays pursue, brokers might learn their bid for Ohtani as an indication they’ve cash to spend and negotiate accordingly. That will check the membership’s self-discipline, as will a want to flip the web page from the Ohtani pursuit with a fast addition to recast the low season.
GM Ross Atkins made clear Tuesday on the winter conferences that the Blue Jays have deliberate for this risk, saying they’d “made some progress, a little bit more on the trade front,” on non-Ohtani strikes.
“We have a lot of information on players that we’re interested in, that are interested in us,” he added, “a decent framework for expectations and timing and fortunately feel that we’ll be in a position to pivot if need be and see a lot of avenues to make our team better.”
He and the entrance workplace have little time for mourning the heartbreaking whiff on the largest free-agent swing the Blue Jays have ever taken. The work towards a distinct ending in 2024 restarts now.
