Gallagher: Ohtani affair had all the trimmings of a Hollywood drama

December 11, 2023

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

The suspense, drama, intrigue and secrecy surrounding Shohei Ohtani and the Blue Jays was worth all the trouble for the franchise.

This whole affair, which had all the trimmings of a cliff-hanging, Hollywood drama, gave fans the belief the Jays meant business by pursuing a generational talent who is one of the game’s greatest players.

Give the Blue Jays and the mammoth Rogers Communications conglomerate credit for at least trying to land Ohtani and give them a shot at the playoffs and maybe the World Series.

After apologizing for erroneously reporting during the day Friday that Ohtani had signed with the Blue Jays, J.P. Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation and formerly the Los Angeles Daily News, revealed the Dodgers made a last-minute kind of offer late Friday night to convince the Japanese star to wear Dodger Blue.

While other media reporters haven’t clarified it, Hoornstra later added the Dodgers increased their offer Friday night by $100-million from $600 million. Pretty high increase, if you ask me, especially since many were very disappointed in Hoornstra’s scoop that went really awry.

Whatever, Dodgers longtime president Stan Kasten wasn’t up to explaining what happened.

“Sorry, I’m afraid we’re just not going to talk about some of the inner workings,” Kasten told me in an email dispatch on Monday. “Just enjoy the team and the great team that the Blue Jays still have.”

With all the dubious posts people were making Friday, it turned out to be a huge disappointment for Toronto fans.

You had a baritone claiming Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi had booked a Toronto sushi bar near Rogers Centre for 50 guests that night, making some believe Ohtani was part of the entourage.

Then you had a flight tracker saying a plane was travelling from Anaheim to Toronto’s Pearson Airport, almost convincing people Ohtani was on the plane. The only problem is that the person on the plane was not Ohtani.

For all those U.S. reporters saying the deal is “great for baseball,” that’s all horse manure. What do you mean, it’s “great for baseball” to have Ohtani with the Dodgers.

I think it would have been great if he had come to Canada. The U.S. is not the be-all and end-all.

The Jays and their fans will get over it. The club has another few months to shore up the ship that is already looking good.