Blue Jays Manager Wants Shohei Ohtani To Return Two Things From Failed Recruitment

Hey Shohei Ohtani, John Schneider called and he wants his Blue Jays cogwheel back.

One of nan biggest what-ifs surrounding nan 2025 World Series betwixt nan Dodgers and Blue Jays concerns Ohtani, namely, that he very astir became a personnel of nan Blue Jays during his foray into free agency 2 years ago. So naturally, Blue Jays head John Schneider, connected nan eve of Game 1 of nan World Series connected Thursday, was asked really adjacent he believes Toronto was to landing nan two-way superstar, who had narrowed his preferred database of teams to nan Dodgers and Blue Jays.

Schneider reflected connected his club's grounded pursuit of Ohtani, past cracked a joke astir nan stops nan squad pulled retired successful its hopes to woo nan superstar.

"You ne'er know," Schneider said. "I deliberation erstwhile we met pinch him, he felt bully astir it. You felt bully astir nan feedback he was giving astir our statement and opportunity here. But you ne'er really cognize what a subordinate is emotion successful free agency. There's a batch of things that person to statement up for them personally, too. So, you can't really deliberation astir what-if. You deliberation astir nan 26 that we have. He's a awesome player.

"I'll opportunity it again—I dream he brought his hat, nan Blue Jay chapeau that he took from america successful our meeting—I dream he brought it backmost finally. And nan overgarment for Decoy [Ohtani's dog]. You know? It's like, springiness america our worldly backmost already."

Pretty, beautiful close. Toronto, equipped pinch 1 of nan highest payrolls successful nan large leagues, was consenting to spell step-for-step pinch nan Dodgers, different financially muscular organization, successful a title that yet ended pinch nan then-largest statement successful North American sports history.

Toronto reportedly pulled retired each of nan stops successful its efforts to motion Ohtani, including a concealed circuit of each inch of nan Blue Jays' analyzable successful Dunedin, Fla., jerseys, workout cogwheel and accessories tailored to Ohtani's preferences, and yes, moreover a overgarment for his canine Decoy, a Kooikerhondje.

Decoy was infamously front-and-center successful nan Ohtani recruitment process erstwhile immoderate theorized and speculated that his dog's sanction was a hint arsenic to wherever he could beryllium headed successful free agency. While it turns retired that that wasn't nan case, it's conscionable different portion of penetration into nan enormity of Ohtani's free agency.

And while nan Blue Jays yet struck out, Schneider still likes really things played out.

"He's a awesome player," Schneider continued. "But that aside, I deliberation that we person a awesome squad and conscionable an unbelievable formed of characters and players. I deliberation things worked retired nan measurement they meant to activity out."

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