The Shohei Ohtani phantom flight this offseason was one of the most discussed topics of MLB free agency. For those who may not remember, Ohtani was rumored to be on a flight to Toronto to meet with the Blue Jays. Fans even tracked the flight and a report stated that the two-way phenom was in agreement with the Blue Jays on a deal. It was later revealed that Ohtani was not even on the flight and he later ended up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So were the Dodgers fooled while all of the rumors were swirling about Ohtani's link to the Toronto Blue Jays? Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes addressed the situation during a recent episode of Foul Territory.
What were Dodgers thinking during the Shohei Ohtani inaccurate reports?
“For sure,” Gomes responded when asked if there was a thought that Ohtani could sign elsewhere amid the flurry of inaccurate reports. “You didn't quite know what to do, it was sort of a helpless feeling. No matter what was said, we understood that Shohei was going to announce this himself. So if we were out, we weren't going to be told that we were out, there was nothing that could be said to us to change our minds.
“So we were just living in the same world as everyone else. Man, I don't know if this is true but I can't definitely say it's not until Robert (Herjavec) from Shark Tank got off the plane in Toronto. It was like, okay, maybe it's not true.”
In the end, it was actually Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank who was on the plane. Ohtani would later announce the news on social media that he was signing with Los Angeles and the Dodgers landed their superstar. Now Ohtani is focusing on recovering from surgery and is expected to be ready for Opening Day.
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