“,”providerName”:”Instagram”,”providerUrl”:”https://www.instagram.com/”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:658,”contentType”:”rich”}, {“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”The Blue Jays have been teetering on top of Mount Everest in this effort, especially since trading for a superstar of their own in division rival Yankees Juan Soto and picking up an elite “project.B” from the market. It’s a rallying cry. Or a heartbreaking finish with nothing in between, and now, the Blue Jays are looking at a season in which they must rebuild the faith and enthusiasm of a national fan base. \n\nWith Ohtani, everything would have lived in a new light. Any team that would have been in pieces, and with Ohtani chasing 90 or 100 hits every season, could make him the LeBron James of baseball, attracting stars for year after year of title runs. Then there would have been business considerations, with the city of Toronto, the Blue Jays, and the newly renovated stadium, with expensive new club lounges and sold-out seats drawing attention from the Japanese media.\n\nNow, we’ll never know.\n\nMaybe something else is possible, but it is. Now that’s a tough sell. It will be a tough sell until Christmas, a tough sell until the New Year and a tough sell when the Blue Jays finally sign someone not named Shohei Ohtani and make their first move in free agency. Widely considered a finalist, Ohtani is so close that it keeps the Blue Jays atop the senior table in Major League Baseball. They’re here after bulking up the payroll with several major deals in recent years, but the tough part about having a seat at this table is that “closer” is no longer an honor, no longer a banner to be hung.\n\n Two teams: Los Angeles Dodgers and all. .\n\nHowever, as we’ve seen before, a season win rarely amounts to much. This Blue Jays team is still close, and general manager Ross Atkins, speaking at the recent MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., kept coming back to the strength of the current roster. The Blue Jays have ways to do this. At work, especially through the trade market, they’ve laid extensive groundwork, and free agency still holds plenty of answers.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:” Besides, you’re a semi. When entertaining the idea of spending billions of US dollars, the price tags on Earth didn’t seem so daunting. Knowing that these windows won’t last forever, and with a team fully capable of softening this heartbreak, hope has to be where it lives now.\n\nNo path will be as simple as Ohtani’s, but no path is as confident.”,”type” :”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/blue-jays-next-steps-after-shohei-ohtani-signs-with-dodgers” ,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null, “summary”:”TORONTO — For a moment, anything felt possible.\nThe Blue Jays were the shining star in signing Shohei Ohtani. Started one of the loudest and quietest free-agent frenzies in baseball history.\nThen, at 3:05 p.m. Saturday,”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\” })”:null,”tags “:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-141″,”title”:”Toronto Blue Jays”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:141″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”keegan-matheson”,”title”:”Keegan Matheson”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-660271″,”title”:”Shohei Ohtani”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:660271″},”type”:”player”}],”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/ejr5amlbaszoixsuuwpr”,”title”:”Blue Jays Next Up: Shohei After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers”}},”person:660271″:{“__typename”:”person”,”id”:660271},”team:119″:{“__typename”:”team”,”id “: 119},”team:141”:{“__typename”:”team”,”id”:141}}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb” } window .globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”en”} window.appId = ” /*–>*/
December 9, 2023
TORONTO — For a moment, it felt like anything was possible.
The Blue Jays signed Shohei Ohtani, one of the loudest and quietest baseball stars in history.
Then, at 3:05pm ET Saturday, an Instagram post. Ohtani announced that he would sign with the Dodgers for $700 million over 10 years, the richest contract in North American professional sports history.
For Blue Jays fans, it was like opening Instagram to see the person of your dreams posing with someone else, an engagement ring sparkling with an orange-sized diamond on the front.
It’s that confidence that kills you, and there’s no bigger confidence than Ohtani.
“Shohei and I want to thank all the companies that have contacted us for their interest and respect,” Ohtani’s agent, CAA’s Nez Balelo, said in a statement, “especially the wonderful people we’ve gotten to know even better through this process. It’s opened up.”
The Blue Jays are teetering on Mount Everest in this effort, especially as the division-rival Yankees traded for a superstar of their own in Juan Soto, taking an elite “Plan B” off the market. It’s going to be heartbreaking without a parade or anything in between, and right now, the Blue Jays are looking at an offseason in which they must rebuild the faith and enthusiasm of not only their roster, but a national fan base.
With Ohtani, everything would have lived in a new light. The Blue Jays would have been a few simple pieces away from being a legitimate World Series contender, and with Ohtani chasing 90 or 100 hits every season, any team could turn him into baseball’s LeBron James, attracting stars for year after year of title runs. Then there would have been commercial considerations, with the city of Toronto, the Blue Jays and the newly renovated stadium, with expensive new club lounges and seats to be sold, drawing attention from the Japanese media.
Perhaps anything more is possible, but it’s a tough sell right now. It will be a tough sell until Christmas, a tough sell until the New Year and a tough sell when the Blue Jays finally sign someone not named Shohei Ohtani and make their first move in free agency. Widely considered a finalist, Ohtani is so close that it keeps the Blue Jays atop the senior table in Major League Baseball. They’re there after beefing up the payroll with several major signings in recent years, but the tough part about having a seat at this table is that “closer” is no longer an honor, no longer a banner to hang.
There are two teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers and everyone else.
However, we’ve seen before that winning the season rarely amounts to much. This Blue Jays team is still close, and general manager Ross Atkins, speaking at the recent MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., kept coming back to the strength of the current roster. The Blue Jays have ways to do this. Through work, especially the trade market, they’ve laid extensive groundwork, and free agency still has plenty of answers.
Besides, when you entertain the idea of spending a half-billion US dollars, the price tags on Earth don’t seem so terrible. Hope needs to be in the place of living now, knowing that these windows won’t last forever and that the team has the full capacity to soften this heartbreak, even if it takes a while.
No path is as simple as Ohtani’s, and no path is as hopeful.
