Blue Jays Off-Season Moves
- Thread starter shack
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- Jun 15, 2004
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Yes the official signing ceremony was supposed to take place at that dinner. Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro, Steve Simmons, Willie Upshaw, Kelly Gruber, Duane Ward, Cito Gaston, Jose Bautista, Dave Steib and of course Shoei Ohtani were all at Yusei Kikuchi’s dinner reservation for 50 people at that great sushi place across the street from “Skydome.” Lmao. Didn’t we all see which direction the plane was going? Clearly it was going to Toronto headed right to that sushi dinner.
Ohtani was ON THAT PLANE! No wait, it was only the guy from Dragons Den. They look a little alike…. well not really but it’s OK….
Next thing you know, they’re going to be following Ohtani‘s plane like the camera followed OJ’s Branco.
Philip
Maybe they can create an updated version of the OJ Simpson car chase from California to Toronto.Yes the official signing ceremony was supposed to take place at that dinner. Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro, Steve Simmons, Willie Upshaw, Kelly Gruber, Duane Ward, Cito Gaston, Jose Bautista, Dave Steib and of course Shoei Ohtani were all at Yusei Kikuchi’s dinner reservation for 50 people at that great sushi place across the street from “Skydome.” Lmao. Didn’t we all see which direction the plane was going? Clearly it was going to Toronto headed right to that sushi dinner.
Ohtani was ON THAT PLANE! No wait, it was only the guy from Dragons Den. They look a little alike…. well not really but it’s OK….
Next thing you know, they’re going to be following Ohtani‘s plane like the camera followed OJ’s Branco.
Philip
That's a good thing for the Blue Jays...they're a playoff team and now they can add 2/3/4 players for the same money.
Hats off to management for trying to sign Ohtani. It really was too big a bite for Toronto to swallow. This team may get lucky in the future but realistically it is prospect development that will win just as much as the big name disappointments.
Imagine that money, man.... His average yearly salary divided into 162 games would equate to over $400,000 per game....
- Jun 15, 2004
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Imagine the fan base if he’s hitting 230 on the IL because of his nagging injuries over the last few years.
Realistically, who are we kidding? The Dodgers have been very quiet with their signings of free agents last season, and they’ve been doing nothing but talking about focussing every drop on Ohtani when he becomes a free agent. Everyone was even talking about this last year. He was their guy, and they were not going to let anything stand in the way of that. Respect to the Blue Jays for even getting Ohtani to think twice.
Philip
I don't necessarily think so. The deep pockets of Rogers could have easily outbid the Trolley Dodgers. Assuming they were serious.
- Jun 15, 2004
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Honestly man, I have a hard time with $70 million per season for a DH, that missed almost all of September, 2 time Tommy John, and might not even pitch the same way ever again. I mean I see the buzz in Toronto. And I went to a Mets game last season against the Angels. I saw the crowd and the Japanese culture presence in the stadium, it was huge. I understand the star power. But $70 million is a little absurd. If Juan Soto hits 30 home runs next season, how much will he be worth?!
Oh and there’s no opt out clause in Ohtani‘s contract. So these people are stuck with each other for the next 10 years. When Ohtani is age 29/30 until age 39/40. The Jays could have very well dodged a bullet here. No pun intended.
Philip
Good point. Dude aint super young. That contract ain't gonna age well
No, what happened was he wanted to go to the Dogers the whole time. They used the Jays to get the amount of money they wanted from the Dogers .
Kind of looked like it went down like this:
- Jun 15, 2004
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Imagine being stuck with a 37-year-old DH, Having to pay him $70,000,000 per season? No opt out clauses in your contract, and you sure as hell can’t trade them at that price. I cant begin to imagine what kind of a nightmare that will be…. By then so many more young Japanese superstars will come into the league. Ohtani is a thing from the past that you’re still stuck having to pay 70 million per season. 2 Tommy John surgeries by the age of 30….. no thanks.
Philip
Right, but if in the first 4 seasons of the deal he hits 45+ bombs with a .300avg and brings a championship or 2, I'll eat that back end all day.
- Jun 15, 2004
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lol well that’s true as well. Two championships within 10 years is definitely worth a lot. But I just know the 1996 to 2000 Toronto Blue Jays definitely did not feel like they won a championship in 1992 and 1993. The Pat Hentgen Cy Young award year of 1996 , followed by Roger Clemens back to back Cy Young awards in 97 and 98, felt like they were done on a Blue Jays team that was lost and confused and on a downward spiral with no direction. I use those years as references because it’s easy for me to remember. This was a painful period that lasted pretty much until the arrival of Jose Bautista I would say it felt like. And even with the arrival of Jose Bautista, it took a good solid five years to come around into a contender.
Wihat I’m getting at, is our championship years didn’t feel like it carried positive vibes moving into the future. Just a painful “OK and now what?”
Philip
I get it. Raps won it 4 yrs ago and look where they are now. Seems like more times than not, once you go through a winning window it seems to slam shut. Unless you're the Red Wings or the Braves.
Killed me watching the era's of Hentgen/Clemens/Halladay/Burnett/Lilly/Chacin/Delgado/Green/Wells/Rios/Catalanotto/Hillenbrand,etc.. and seeing nothing. Even this Jays team, can't expect our pitching to repeat. Need a miracle from Manoah to come back. And our hitters need to all be better save for Bo who was solid.
So, what I'm saying is, while the $$ was insane I would have signed Shohei and deal with the rest later
The same was said when Albert Pujols signed with the Angel years ago. That signing secured them a 20 year $3 billion television deal with FOX
