GM of Toronto Disagrees That Shohei Ohtani Used Them to Negotiate a Better Deal With LA
Shohei Ohtani, a two-way superstar with the Los Angeles Dodgers, grabbed attention as soon as the 2023 baseball season concluded. Despite the widespread belief that Ohtani will select the Dodgers in his free agency, the baseball community remained anxiously awaiting a definitive declaration. When you spoke with analysts, experts, and oddsmakers, Ohtani would invariably recommend the Dodgers. But for a brief period of time, it appeared that Ohtani might remain in the American League and play for the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada. According to several rumors, Ohtani was en route to Toronto or that negotiations were underway between the two parties.
For all those involved, it was an exciting period, but happily for Dodger supporters, it did not materialize. Nonetheless, it was a heartbreaking defeat for the Blue Jays.
Ross Atkins, general manager of the Blue Jays, recently voiced his unhappiness to the Associated Press. It’s heartbreaking to lose Ohatni when you believed you might have him. There was talk in the community that Ohatni might have used teams to increase the terms of his deal, but Atkins thinks the two-way superstar wasn’t involved in that.
Without a doubt not, Atkins replied. “I have strong feelings in opposition. We are quite pleased with the procedure. From ownership to business to baseball, it was an amazing effort by people working together. Although the result was not what we had hoped for, we are quite happy with the process and truly felt that it was genuine and sincere.
Ohtani doesn’t seem to be the type of player who will lead a team in an attempt to gain a better offer from the team they want to join. Meeting with clubs he considered viable was part of his due research, but Los Angeles was always the preferred option.
