New CBA Ramifications & Shohei Otani Watch

Ranma · Post #81 » by **Ranma** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 5:02 am

Quake Griffin · Post #82 » by **Quake Griffin** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 2:45 pm

Starting to wonder if the FO should have had the foresight to not spend on the 2015 class just to make room for this kid.

Ranma · Post #83 » by **Ranma** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 4:15 pm

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Ranma · Post #84 » by **Ranma** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 3:08 pm

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Ranma · Post #85 » by **Ranma** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 3:21 pm

As noted in one of the tweets below, it's likely a matter of wishful thinking on the part of Japanese media to have the Padres included among Ohtani's top 5 teams under consideration. However, San Diego is on the West Coast, which would obviously appeal to Shohei, however, the Southern California city isn't noted for its Japanese population. Plus, Logan White is with the organization along with Hideo Nomo, Takashi Saito, and a Ohtani's former personal team trainer who worked with Ohtani in Japan. White was quite high on and dogged in his pursuit of Ohtani as a high schooler, which is how the Dodgers almost signed him back in the day.

If Ohtani really does want to avoid sharing the limelight with another Japanese star, then Mashiro Tanaka's presence in New York would eliminate the Yankees. Does Kenta Maeda really count as a star outside of Japan? I would also think Aaron Boone's hiring as manager wouldn't hold much appeal given his inexperience and at times questionable perspective. I would think his agent, Nez Balelo, would be keeping him apprised of the respective situations with MLB teams and providing his own perspective.

The fact that the Marlins can't even afford to go after Ohtani despite the tremendous value presented is an indictment on how bad the state of affairs is in Miami.

Going back to the Yahoo! Japan report, based on the translation and assuming its true, Ohtani intends to meet with only a few teams in order to make a relatively quick decision to avoid drawing out the media circus over the wooing process. While I can definitely see him narrowing his choices to a handful of teams based on his preconceived preferences and the written presentations submitted to him, I don't see the need for him to rush this process...unless he already has his heart set on a team, which hopefully means it's the same team he chose years ago: the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Ranma · Post #86 » by **Ranma** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 3:45 pm

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Ranma · Post #87 » by **Ranma** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 7:27 pm

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Ranma · Post #88 » by **Ranma** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 4:30 am

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Ranma · Post #89 » by **Ranma** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 4:54 am

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Ranma · Post #90 » by **Ranma** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 11:29 pm

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Ranma · Post #91 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 12:17 am

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Ranma · Post #92 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 12:20 am

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Ranma · Post #93 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 12:44 am

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wco81 · Post #94 » by **wco81** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 1:41 am

Which cities have airports with direct flights to NRT (Tokyo Narita airport)?

LAX, SFO, SEA. Not sure about SAN.

Do the Angels still play in Anaheim? Which airport are they nearest and does it have direct flights to Japan? Or how far is LAX from where Angles players would live?

I guess if Vancouver had a MLB team, they'd be in the running too.

San Francisco has a Japantown but I don't know how it compares to Japanese neighborhoods in other cities. It also has a Japanese Tea Garden and a museum with a lot of Japanese artifacts.

I don't know how Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area compare to those in other cities, if that matters to him. Certainly some high-end places.

One lore is that Steve Jobs had a visitor at the Apple campus once and complained that the sushi from the cafeteria wasn't fresh enough. Jobs had the sushi guy at the cafeteria immediately fired.

I'm sure the Giants could get him a tour of Apple, which gets a lot of Asian tourists visiting (just the outside) to take pictures.

Then again SoCal has all of Hollywood so if Ohtani is a ****, then that may be a big edge for the Dodgers and Angels.

If he has the hots for some Hollywood starlet, that could be a big thing.

Ranma · Post #95 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 2:23 am

wco81 wrote:Which cities have airports with direct flights to NRT (Tokyo Narita airport)?

LAX, SFO, SEA. Not sure about SAN.

Do the Angels still play in Anaheim? Which airport are they nearest and does it have direct flights to Japan? Or how far is LAX from where Angles players would live?

I guess if Vancouver had a MLB team, they'd be in the running too.

San Francisco has a Japantown but I don't know how it compares to Japanese neighborhoods in other cities. It also has a Japanese Tea Garden and a museum with a lot of Japanese artifacts.

I don't know how Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area compare to those in other cities, if that matters to him. Certainly some high-end places.

One lore is that Steve Jobs had a visitor at the Apple campus once and complained that the sushi from the cafeteria wasn't fresh enough. Jobs had the sushi guy at the cafeteria immediately fired.

I'm sure the Giants could get him a tour of Apple, which gets a lot of Asian tourists visiting (just the outside) to take pictures.

Then again SoCal has all of Hollywood so if Ohtani is a ****, then that may be a big edge for the Dodgers and Angels.

If he has the hots for some Hollywood starlet, that could be a big thing.

It's obvious you don't really know much of anything about Shohei Ohtani, so why would you even be interested in him for your team? Just jumping on the hype bandwagon? I've followed Shohei Ohtani's progress for over 5 years now and I'm not even the expert on him in this forum. That distinction goes to Neddy, but I know enough to point to the tweet I included in a post above about how MLB GMs don't question his love for the game and dedication to it.

He eats, drinks, and sleeps baseball. He doesn't drink alcohol and apparently even avoids dating since he spends practically his entire waking moment studying and training if he's not playing in order to improve his baseball skills. He didn't even live in his own place in Japan but instead stayed in the team dorms. He may end up meeting someone here and eventually getting married in the United States, but the guy is not out chasing skirts or "Coming to America" to look for a bride.

His priority has been and remains to be the best baseball player he can be. He has quite the impressive skill set, but he's not exactly perfect as there are still plenty of areas for improvement that he could work on. Still, he's an impressive mountain of clay who could be molded into one of the best athletes the game has ever seen. His physical stature, athletic ability, competitive acumen, and high character all make him a highly desirable player any team would want on its roster.

It sounds like Los Angeles being a major media market could be a detriment in making a pitch to him, but hopefully the Dodgers can provide assurances that the organization will be able to shield him from all the unwanted distractions for him to focus on his quest to be the ultimate baseball player.

I believe Los Angeles has the largest Japanese population among U.S. cities but the Mariners, with Japanese ownership and previous experience of making Ichiro the face of the organization, might have the advantage among all the remaining teams in the running. Los Angeles has Nobu, which is famed for its sushi but Seattle's location in the Pacific Northwest provides a climate and setting that resembles this hometown in Japan the most, so there should be plenty of good sushi and Japanese cuisine for him to choose from there.

The Angels do indeed play in Anaheim in Orange County but players would likely live further south either in Newport Beach or the Irvine area. OC even has its own airport with John Wayne Airport. While it has international flights, they seem to be limited to Canada and Mexico. Rather than deal with the congested traffic of Southern California, Ohtani would be better off actually living in LA rather than deal with the commute. Los Angeles should have plenty of exclusive communities in Beverly Hills, Brentwood,
Bel Air, Marina Del Ray, Manhattan Beach, or Malibu for him to isolate himself from the public while still being close to the team stadium. However, even local traffic in La La Land could be daunting for Ohtani.

At this point, the Seattle Mariners have to be considered the favorites to land Ohtani, but I'm hoping the Dodgers can sell him on actually competing at the highest level by forging himself through the challenges of playing in the postseason regularly with the team for the foreseeable future while addressing his other concerns. Our expertise in analytics and progressive medical and training methodologies should also put us at least a cut above other organizations.

San Francisco should be higher in consideration than San Diego given its Japanese population, but the Giants don't offer more than the Dodgers. However, nobody knows what he's really thinking right now.

Ranma · Post #96 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 3:46 am

I get the sense that Ohtani informed teams that he prefer that they not divulge details about the conversations they've had with his camp given how some teams seem reluctant to inform whether or not they've made the cut, especially those who are likely granted meetings. The Rangers seem to want to respect his wishes by not saying one way or the other while the Dodgers are typically tight-lipped, anyway.

As a resident of Orange County and fan of Mike Scioscia as well as Mike Trout, I can see some of the appeal of the Angels, but I have a hard time believing that they are under serious consideration given what I posted previously about the difficulties he'd have to deal with by playing and living farther away from the LAX international airport. It's not like he's going to go to Japan every weekend, but spending idle time in traffic would take away from time he would otherwise use to train, study, or otherwise prepare, which is something I think he values greatly. Maybe Ohtani doesn't know, but I'd think Arte Moreno's lack of civic pride with his "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" falsehood would be something that would rub Shohei the wrong way.

I don't see the Astros or Reds making the cut with Yulieski Gurriel's racially insensitive gesture being the kiss of death for Houston. Cincinnati doesn't hold much appeal for US citizens and even less so for international players.

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Ranma · Post #97 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 4:22 am

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Ranma · Post #98 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 4:47 am

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Edit: Angels confirmed as being granted an invitation to present in-person.

Neddy · Post #99 » by **Neddy** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 5:44 am

Ranma wrote:

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I disagree with that article. if you tell Shohei 'hey, this way is easier', he will go the other way. this boy is innocent and as naive as they come because he is just that naturally good, who also happens to live and train for baseball 24/7. I think Seattle is his destination because he is still a kid, and from Japan, Seattle is the shortest flight to a US city with a major league team as well, although that isn't the major reason for my thought process... but really, from Tokyo to Seattle/Portland/San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego, are surprisingly close in time that it really makes no difference coming from Japan since they don't take the domestic commercial airway and come from different routs straight from Japan aiming for different American WestCoast cities. when the shortest flight is 10 hours long, it makes little difference at that point whether it is 11 hours or 12 hours instead. but the fact that Jerry Dipoto came out first to publicly speak that he will commit to Shohei and develop him both as a pitcher and a hitter, gives a lot of lee way coming from a small market team that has had Ichiro, Sasaki's rise to their stardoms, and to a lesser degree of impact, Aoki and Iwakuma's fame for the Japanese domestic fans watching the MLB.

well good luck to him, I am glad I am within the Mariners' home territory for the TVs.... oh wait I went streaming anyway... but I will hear about him and get to watch him alot, so Im glad to see him often even if he is not a dodger.

Ranma · Post #100 » by **Ranma** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 6:41 am

Neddy wrote:I disagree with that article. if you tell Shohei 'hey, this way is easier', he will go the other way. this boy is innocent and as naive as they come because he is just that naturally good, who also happens to live and train for baseball 24/7. I think Seattle is his destination because he is still a kid, and from Japan, Seattle is the shortest flight to a US city with a major league team as well, although that isn't the major reason for my thought process... but really, from Tokyo to Seattle/Portland/San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego, are surprisingly close in time that it really makes no difference coming from Japan since they don't take the domestic commercial airway and come from different routs straight from Japan aiming for different American WestCoast cities. when the shortest flight is 10 hours long, it makes little difference at that point whether it is 11 hours or 12 hours instead. but the fact that Jerry Dipoto came out first to publicly speak that he will commit to Shohei and develop him both as a pitcher and a hitter, gives a lot of lee way coming from a small market team that has had Ichiro, Sasaki's rise to their stardoms, and to a lesser degree of impact, Aoki and Iwakuma's fame for the Japanese domestic fans watching the MLB.

well good luck to him, I am glad I am within the Mariners' home territory for the TVs.... oh wait I went streaming anyway... but I will hear about him and get to watch him alot, so Im glad to see him often even if he is not a dodger.

Yeah, I get the sense that the kid welcomes the challenge and, like I said, Seattle's Pacific Northwest atmosphere will provide for an easier transition with a familiar setting close to his Japanese hometown. I think it will come down to the Mariners and Dodgers with Seattle being the current favorite since he can follow in the footsteps of his idol Ichiro Suzuki as the new face of the franchise.

However, I hope for the Dodgers to convince Ohtani of the big picture. If he really wants to be the best baseball player he can be,
he'll need to forge his mettle at the highest level of competition, which means playing in the postseason with regularity. The Dodgers offer a better opportunity for that than most anyone else including the Mariners.

As I've also said before, Shohei has ace ability but is only ready to be the 3rd or 4th starter at the moment. He'll eventually be an ace or co-ace but he needs to ease into the role. I think he has the capacity to get there within his rookie season, but to start off his MLB career, he would be better suited to start off behind Kershaw, Wood, and maybe Hill before settling into the #2 spot. He may want to be the undisputed #1 and Kershaw's presence presents a roadblock for him, but he should be reasonable enough to understand that he's nowhere near ready for that role. If he wants the role of top dog, he'll have to earn it by outpitching Clayton.

As a hitter, I see him with similar upside as Joc Pederson when he first came up through the organization. Being a DH would make it easier, but if he wants to be considered a truly complete player, he should be sold on playing the outfield. While this obviously furthers his injury risks, it'd be mitigated with him needing rest days as a 2-way player. Easing into the role of positional player also applies here.

The Dodgers have a supportive environment and are also at the forefront in progressive methodologies being applied to our player development, analytics, medical and training. We provide more resources for him to be the best player he can be, so we'll have to appeal to his more reasonable side rather than stroking his ego as being the star attraction.

If he chooses the latter route over the former objective, then good luck in Seattle, but it would go against Shohei's stated desire to try to become the best player in baseball. Koufax and Drysdale pushed each other to be the best with their internal competition with each other. The same applied to Maddux and Glavine. We saw Kershaw and Greinke have that dynamic as well during their time as teammates. The same would apply to Ohtani and Kershaw, but Ohtani has to rise up to the level of Greinke first and he's not quite there yet. He'd have to surpass Darvish at this point and he certainly has the potential to do so, but he needs work. I actually like the comparison to Syndergaard as a pitcher.

Playing 2-way baseball actually hinders his progress as both a pitcher and a hitter, which is all the more reason why he should place himself with an organization with one of the best support groups out there. A sound defense to back him up as a pitcher and a balanced and versatile roster of position players that affords him opportunities to contribute on the field and at the plate in various ways.

I may be biased as a Dodgers fan, but it seems obvious to me that Ohtani's choice should be the Los Angeles Dodgers. He could be the next Rookie of the Year wearing the storied uniform of a franchise known for its pioneering legacy while doing it with a homecrowd with the largest Japanese population in the United States. He'd also be afforded the opportunity to contribute to breaking a 30-year drought for a World Series title for the franchise as well during his first MLB season.