Though the Los Angeles Dodgers are the runaway favorite to land Shohei Ohtani, it is not 100 percent certain he will swap teams in the City of Angels this winter. Several teams will feel they have a legitimate chance at signing the best baseball player on the planet and the negotiations and bidding war will likely mostly be kept quiet.
One team that is not exactly seen as a serious suitor for Ohtani yet will dip their hand in the saga is the Toronto Blue Jays. A rival executive tells Ken Rosenthal that they view the Blue Jays as a sleeper team for Ohtani.
Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette will both hit free agency after the 2025 season. There's a chance the Blue Jays put their extension negotiations on hold to try and romance Ohtani into playing in Toronto. It will still take plenty of convincing and a ton of money, but the Blue Jays do have benefits that suit Ohtani's needs. Will they break the bank for him though?
Ohtani in control
No matter how many teams try to court Ohtani, it all comes down to what the superstar really wants. The cloud that surrounds his pitching situation may halt some negotiations, but Ohtani will still come out of this offseason with the largest professional sports contract in North American sports history.
There are teams who can and will afford to pay what Ohtani wants and assuming he wants to play for a contender, that knocks out a good chunk of teams. The Blue Jays are in the crop of teams who will test the waters on Ohtani, maybe get a sit-down or two with him or at the very least a video call. They are no doubt a long shot to sign the soon-to-be two-time MVP, but were they to put all their chips on the table, they could put up a convincing case for Ohtani to ponder.
Shohei Ohtani can essentially go wherever he wants for however much he asks and for however long he wishes to play there. The short and sweet of it is, that Ohtani – or at least his team of agents/advisors – is in control of everything. He'll head the negotiating and unless there are some crazy incentives in a short-year deal or a long-term contract for less money than expected, he won’t settle for anything and might just go for the best offer.
The Blue Jays are playoff contenders but they play in a very tough AL East division. There's a chance, as Rosenthal says, that Ohtani would prefer to play in an easier division with a team that has just as good if not a better chance to be a consistent playoff squad.
There is a real chance this is all just a rumor, as it came from the mouth of one anonymous executive. Playing the “what if” game helps get us through what will probably be mostly quiet conversations for Shohei Ohtani during his free agency.
Ohtani could announce his new team quietly at a random point in the offseason, though there is a strong belief he signs before the second week of December. It will be fascinating to watch unfold.
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