Blue Jays: Shohei Ohtani to meet MLB clubs next week

The offseason Japanese sensation that is Shohei Ohtani is set to meet MLB clubs next week in Los Angeles as the courting process officially gets underway, you have to figure the Toronto Blue Jays will do their due diligence and everything in their power to lure Ohtani north of the border.

Major League Baseball announced that the new posting deal was ratified and the Nippon Ham Fighters would formally post the second coming to Babe Ruth making him officially available to major league clubs.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted yesterday that according to the Japanese media Shohei Ohtani will be in Los Angeles next week to begin meeting MLB teams.

All 30 MLB teams will undoubtedly be vying for the opportunity to be declared the winner of the Ohtani sweepstakes however I believe the Blue Jays chances are much better than many people suspect.

The Blue Jays have scouted Ohtani extensively while Pacific Rim scout Dan Evans is rumoured to have a very good working relationship with all parties involved and has put in the leg work building a relationship with Ohtani and selling the qualities that Toronto has to offer.

According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports multiple MLB executives believe that Ohtani would prefer to sign with a club that doesn’t already have a Japanese star on their current roster. There has been no confirmation of this report from anyone involved with Ohtani however if true this would benefit the Blue Jays and essentially take the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the running.

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The Ohtani sweepstakes and the Giancarlo Stanton trade winds seem to have officially stalled the offseason free agent frenzy as prospective teams are in a holding pattern waiting to see where the chips fall regarding these two big fish.

Ohtani could conceivably check two boxes off the Blue Jays offseason to-do list as they consider the 23-year old a two-player and plan to utilize him that way if successful in signing him. Last season with the Nippon Ham Fighters he slashed .332/.403/.540 with 8 home runs in 65 games while also making 5 starts during an injury-plagued campaign. Ohtani underwent right ankle surgery when the season concluded but is expected to be 100 percent healthy by opening day.

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Keep the faith Blue Jays fans, we’re not out of the running just yet.