✹The PERENNIAL Shohei Ohtani Thread✹

[awz50]

Come on ohtani to dodgers

[pezzicle]

why would him signing in TOR be utterly shocking? we've known they were in on him and courting him for weeks. It's not that surprising. They are a massive team, only one in the country. Toronto is a massive city with a huge immigrant population. Jays are owed by Rogers, one of two national broadcasting companies in the country, who broadcast every Jays game. Half the country has Sportsnet and can tune in. Massive advertising opportunities.

like, i wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere, but i don't get why someone would be shocked if he signed with Toronto. They've signed big players before

[21Pittsburgh58]

Time to sell!

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by pezzicle

why would him signing in TOR be utterly shocking? we've known they were in on him and courting him for weeks. It's not that surprising. They are a massive team, only one in the country. Toronto is a massive city with a huge immigrant population. Jays are owed by Rogers, one of two national broadcasting companies in the country, who broadcast every Jays game. Half the country has Sportsnet and can tune in. Massive advertising opportunities.

like, i wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere, but i don't get why someone would be shocked if he signed with Toronto. They've signed big players before

i think the "issue" is on the hobby side of things.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by pezzicle

why would him signing in TOR be utterly shocking? we've known they were in on him and courting him for weeks. It's not that surprising. They are a massive team, only one in the country. Toronto is a massive city with a huge immigrant population. Jays are owed by Rogers, one of two national broadcasting companies in the country, who broadcast every Jays game. Half the country has Sportsnet and can tune in. Massive advertising opportunities.

like, i wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere, but i don't get why someone would be shocked if he signed with Toronto. They've signed big players before

I wouldn't be surprised at all. He isn't going for the US market. He is going for the global stage. Smart move imo.

[Rage]

All I know is he announced his decision to join the Angels on December 8th, 6 years ago. What's today's date?

[ThoseBackPages]

which parts of Canada that already like baseball, have no interest in Ohtani?

[MyckKabongo]

It just doesn't make any sense at all with all we've heard for years about how he just wants to win. Going to the AL East at this juncture would be a terrible decision. The Orioles are absolutely stacked for the next half decade. The Rays are always good. The Yankees and Sox have huge budgets and are never out of it for long.

When he could've just gone to the Dodgers and get the bye almost every year? Make it make sense.

[theshowandme]

Tough day for baseball news.

We have Sports Illustrated articles being shared and Frank the Tank Leaf Autos on the front page of Blowout.

Can this dude sign already?

[MyckKabongo]

Originally Posted by pezzicle

why would him signing in TOR be utterly shocking? we've known they were in on him and courting him for weeks. It's not that surprising. They are a massive team, only one in the country. Toronto is a massive city with a huge immigrant population. Jays are owed by Rogers, one of two national broadcasting companies in the country, who broadcast every Jays game. Half the country has Sportsnet and can tune in. Massive advertising opportunities.

like, i wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere, but i don't get why someone would be shocked if he signed with Toronto. They've signed big players before

You (and the report going around) cite a bunch of marketing reasons. We've been told for years he wants to win and doesn't care about marketing.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by MyckKabongo

It just doesn't make any sense at all with all we've heard for years about how he just wants to win. Going to the AL East at this juncture would be a terrible decision. The Orioles are absolutely stacked for the next half decade. The Rays are always good. The Yankees and Sox have huge budgets and are never out of it for long.

When he could've just gone to the Dodgers and get the bye almost every year? Make it make sense.

Nobody in the al east this past season advanced out of the wild card round.

Look what arizona did this year, San Diego last year. Dodgers may seem safe but the playoffs are a crapshoot.

[pezzicle]

Originally Posted by MyckKabongo

It just doesn't make any sense at all with all we've heard for years about how he just wants to win. Going to the AL East at this juncture would be a terrible decision. The Orioles are absolutely stacked for the next half decade. The Rays are always good. The Yankees and Sox have huge budgets and are never out of it for long.

When he could've just gone to the Dodgers and get the bye almost every year? Make it make sense.

Baltimore needs pitching help real bad and I don't think they should be considered contenders until they have elite pitching. There pipeline isn't that great in that sense either, although they def have the pieces in position player pool to go get guys in a trade.

Rays are looking to cut payroll and I suspect they are dialing things back

Boston sucks

Jays can go toe to toe with any team in that division payroll wise. They are owned by a 12B corporation. They have extremely deep pockets

[pezzicle]

Originally Posted by MyckKabongo

You (and the report going around) cite a bunch of marketing reasons. We've been told for years he wants to win and doesn't care about marketing.

he can win in Toronto and have massive marketing and money making potential.

The only difference between LAD and TOR is that the NL West is a shittier division and the path to the playoffs is harder (but not awfully hard) in the AL East

[punkoholic]

Originally Posted by MyckKabongo

It just doesn't make any sense at all with all we've heard for years about how he just wants to win. Going to the AL East at this juncture would be a terrible decision. The Orioles are absolutely stacked for the next half decade. The Rays are always good. The Yankees and Sox have huge budgets and are never out of it for long.

When he could've just gone to the Dodgers and get the bye almost every year? Make it make sense.

Apparently he admires Kikuchi so perhaps getting to play with him is appealing. I also wonder if he has early opt out years. Perhaps plays with Kikuchi for a year or two, opts out, signs elsewhere. If he gets hurt, I'm sure his contract with Toronto is still big so he just stays. And for Toronto, yes it would suck if he immediately leaves but at least you had him for a season or two. And the owner makes money from merchandise sales early on.

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

i collect players, not teams

im not alone

here, here

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by pezzicle

However, I'm a bit confused by this statement " I've seen Jays fans in Seattle, but how is that any different than Leafs fans in Vancouver?" What does there being Leafs fans in Vancouver have to do with the fact that the Jays are the only team in Canada and represent the entire nation in MLB and a huge amount of people across the country are fans of the team? Like sure, its def more here in Toronto or in Ontario, but that also is like 40% of the entire Canadian population in that small area

That's my point -- large population centers tend to have displaced fans for work or family reasons (I live in SoCal and see in every sport that fans come out of the woodwork once or twice a year to see the team in person). Toronto has a lot of fans, but many have connections to Toronto/Ontario and flood into Seattle from Vancouver/Western Canada. There are definitely Jays fans in Western Canada, but not so many to say the entire country cares that much.

Not to mention, I really find it hard to believe he's going to pick Toronto.

The Kikuchi sushi thing could be a nice dinner with a friend coming to view the amenities Toronto has to offer.

[theshowandme]

I learned a long time ago that collecting teams did not fulfill my desires.

Collect the GOAT and it doesn’t matter where he goes

[YouTheManNick]

Maybe he's sat among the crowd at Dodger stadium and doesn't want to play for that wretched trash of a fanbase.

Seems like he's a classy guy and that "fan base" as anything but classy.

[pezzicle]

Originally Posted by cholodolo

That's my point -- large population centers tend to have displaced fans for work or family reasons (I live in SoCal and see in every sport that fans come out of the woodwork once or twice a year to see the team in person). Toronto has a lot of fans, but many have connections to Toronto/Ontario and flood into Seattle from Vancouver/Western Canada. There are definitely Jays fans in Western Canada, but not so many to say the entire country cares that much.

Not to mention, I really find it hard to believe he's going to pick Toronto.

The Kikuchi sushi thing could be a nice dinner with a friend coming to view the amenities Toronto has to offer.

Again, I guess it depends on what you mean by entire country cares that much. Most thing I've read say that 30+% of the country outside of Ontario pays attention to the Jays. That's 10M people outside of Ontario, which is another 15M people of which something like 50% of people pay attention to the team. The fanbase is 20M strong, and every single game is broadcasted nationally into a massive amount of house across the country. Something like 75% of houses have Sportsnet

And apparently the Kikuchi thing is him renting out the entire restaurant, not just a single table

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by pezzicle

And apparently the Kikuchi thing is him renting out the entire restaurant, not just a single table

That's what VIPs do...Scott Boras does that all the time here.

What you think Shohei is going to rock up and sit in a window booth with all of this going on?

Come on dude, take the Maple Leaf blinders off.

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by YouTheManNick

Maybe he's sat among the crowd at Dodger stadium and doesn't want to play for that wretched trash of a fanbase.

Seems like he's a classy guy and that "fan base" as anything but classy.

This is 100% my take and I mean no disrespect to anyone on here or anyone who lives in LA. But "generalizing," I just can't see someone like Ohtani liking living in LA/Chicago/Philly/NY/Boston. Not really the "warmest" citizens occupying those lands.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by cholodolo

That's my point -- large population centers tend to have displaced fans for work or family reasons (I live in SoCal and see in every sport that fans come out of the woodwork once or twice a year to see the team in person). Toronto has a lot of fans, but many have connections to Toronto/Ontario and flood into Seattle from Vancouver/Western Canada. There are definitely Jays fans in Western Canada, but not so many to say the entire country cares that much.

Not to mention, I really find it hard to believe he's going to pick Toronto.

The Kikuchi sushi thing could be a nice dinner with a friend coming to view the amenities Toronto has to offer.

I saw Ohtani at Angel Stadium this past year a day he pitched and it was like 40% full.

Anything is going to be an upgrade from that dumpster of a franchise.

[Melagoo]

Shohei Ohtani to Sign with Toronto Blue Jays over Los Angeles Dodgers: Sources

https://dodgersnation.com/shohei-oht...es/2023/12/08/

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

I saw Ohtani at Angel Stadium this past year a day he pitched and it was like 40% full.

Anything is going to be an upgrade from that dumpster of a franchise.

Ah, yes, reminds me why I unsubscribed from this thread during the season.

The "muhhhh Angels aren't good wahhhh"...find some new material.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by imbluestreak23

This is 100% my take and I mean no disrespect to anyone on here or anyone who lives in LA. But "generalizing," I just can't see someone like Ohtani liking living in LA/Chicago/Philly/NY/Boston. Not really the "warmest" citizens occupying those lands.

People in NY are way ruder than people in LA