Someone should really ask a simple question about Shohei Ohtani’s free agency.
What is the meaning of this secret?
Of course, that would mean someone has been contacted by Ohtani within the past four months. Maybe his silence is Ohtani’s choice, or maybe someone is giving him really bad advice. But this historic free agency development is unnecessarily joyless and completely antithetical to the way Ohtani fights and loves his craft.
His short journey through free agency could have been a baseball extravaganza. Ohtani has had more influence than any player to date. Everyone wants him, everyone wants to give him a lot of money. This should be really fun and create excitement among baseball fans who dream of having Ohtani in their favorite team’s lineup.
Instead, his decision is being treated like a delicate negotiation over a secret spy swap. There has been silence and intimidation, as team executives roll their eyes at the warnings they have received from Ohtani’s camp about publicly discussing efforts to sign the most dynamic and popular talent on the planet. “Sorry, I can’t talk about him, which everyone is talking about,” one general manager said with a laugh.
During Tuesday’s winter meetings, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that the team recently met with Ohtani at Dodger Stadium. (Newsflash: The highest-spending team talks to the most prominent free agent!) There were soon follow-up questions about why the information would be released in the face of the information control that Ohtani’s camp has in place. Hold leaks to negotiating teams. General manager Brandon Gomez admitted hours later that he was surprised by Roberts’ admission to the meeting, but declined to comment on the meeting himself.
None of this is necessary. At the All-Star Game, Ohtani walks among his temporary teammates, laughing, taking pictures and signing autographs. There’s a lot of respect for him and his unique talent, and he may have felt the same way going into free agency.
Instead, this is our reality. A few weeks ago, when Ohtani won the Most Valuable Player award, he was sitting with his cute dog. Then a simple question arose. “What is that dog’s name?”
A call was made to confirm the finer details, as discussed on the Nov. 20 BBTN podcast. The reaction across the channel was this: The Ohtani camp was not prepared to release the dog’s name. Again, this was probably Ohtani’s decision. Maybe he received bad advice. But that was really stupid.
He is arguably the greatest international baseball star since Babe Ruth to transcend baseball’s typical trajectory, and his potential impact during free agency was wasted. Just imagine how much better served we all would have been if this period had been dealt with in a step-by-step manner rather than with paranoia. Much like what he’s done on the field, Ohtani could set a new standard — this time in his free agent campaign.
If Ohtani ended his visit with the Toronto Blue Jays with a Zoom call with reporters, which neither manager John Schneider nor general manager Ross Atkins did on Tuesday, despite multiple opportunities to do so. -I want you to imagine that. He was able to start with a tribute to the city of Toronto before giving an impressive tour of the team’s new spring training facility. He could have talked about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s power, Bo Bichette’s aggressiveness at the plate, Kevin Guzman’s splitter. He could have mentioned Schneider’s humor and thanked Mark Shapiro and Atkins for their time. He could have concluded his thoughts with some thoughts on the Maple Leafs and Joe Carter’s home runs. And he could have concluded by announcing a donation to Jay’s Cares before securing the richest contract in North American professional sports history — for example, having already earned tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship deals. He could have donated $50,000, the equivalent of change, to one of the players — to help kids. He deftly answered several questions from local reporters and could have easily deflected questions about where he intended to play by saying he was still in the process.
He could have done the same with the Chicago Cubs, Dodgers, and any other team he considered. No matter which team he ultimately chooses, his time with each franchise will uplift the organization and players and raise awareness for philanthropy. He could have lifted a baseball.
Of course, Ohtani is entitled to privacy, and as we’ve seen in other sports, hiring choices made under the spotlight of fans can fail. LeBron James has been great at how he’s handled his career, but if he had the chance to do it all over again, you wonder if he would air The Decision again.
And, as was evident during his years in Anaheim, Ohtani’s reflex always seems to be to blame the media and fans as little as possible. But by talking to the media, sports’ biggest stars — Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Patrick Mahomes, among others — are trying to talk to the backers of their sports: their fans, their paying customers. I understood that I would be speaking to
Ohtani has yet to take advantage of that opportunity. And as the decision approaches amidst information blackout, he ends up missing out on the chance to play in his favorite game.