Everyone loves Ohtani, including Giants, A’s
Imagine someone starting a game at AT&T Park with a 100-mph fastball and ending the same game with a home run into McCovey Cove. Imagine someone giving new meaning to “youth movement” at the Coliseum with a pitchinghitting repertoire not seen in the big leagues since a man named Babe Ruth.
That someone is Shohei Ohtani, and he’s the most intriguing baseball player on the planet, a two-way threat who reaches triple figures in velocity as a pitcher as easily as he reaches the bleachers as a hitter.
“He was impressive,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans said with a chuckle that further emphasized his point, having watched Ohtani pitch in Japan in September.
Ohtani, 23, has played for the Nippon Ham Fighters the past five seasons and will join the major leagues in 2018. His free agency will begin Friday as soon as Major League Baseball owners ratify the new posting system, the process in which a player transfers from a team in Japan to a team in North America. The system assures the former team is compensated with a posting fee — paid by the new team — with which a player is given a limited time to negotiate.
Every team would love to have Ohtani, especially because his salary will be far below market value, thanks to MLB’s international signing rules.
Like Evans, A’s GM David Forst wouldn’t discuss his team’s specific interest level because of tampering rules regarding players belonging to other teams. But there’s no hiding Forst’s admiration for the 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher/left-handed hitter.
“I’ll talk only in general,” Forst said, “and say a two-way player with his abilities would be an asset for any team.”
With the A’s, Ohtani would look mighty fine atop the rotation while serving as designated hitter (and perhaps parttime outfielder) on days he doesn’t pitch. With the Giants, he’d provide pop they desperately need, and they’d certainly make room for him in the rotation.
Injuries limited Ohtani to 65 games in 2017. His best season in Japan was 2016 when he won the Pacific League MVP award by going 10-4 with a 1.86 ERA and hitting .322 with 22 homers and 67 RBIs.
In five seasons, he has a 2.52 ERA and .859 OPS. He has played just 62 games in the outfield (none in the past three seasons) and has far more experience as a DH, a reason he’d seem to be a better fit in the American League.
There’s little doubt in the industry that Ohtani will be a star in the majors, which seems ready for a two-way player. After all, starting pitchers are working fewer innings than ever, and more relievers are being used, leaving fewer bench players.
“I don’t see it as a problem trying to figure out how you fit someone like that on a roster,” Forst said. “He essentially gives you a 26th man. It’s a good problem to have.”
Evans cited the 2017 draft, in which two of the top four picks were pitchers-infielders, the Reds selecting Hunter Greene second and the Rays taking Brendan McKay fourth.
“It’s happening more and more,” Evans said. “You’re seeing them coming out of the draft. You don’t see it a ton in the minor leagues, but it’s happening. It takes a unique athlete. It also takes a passion to do that.”
Speaking of unique athletes, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner knows something about hitting, and Evans said, “If Madison were coming out of high school or college today, he might have some interest” in being a two-way player.
All 30 teams can fantasize about Ohtani, who’d fit in every team’s budget because his salary would be the major-league minimum. He’s younger than 25 and, therefore, subject to international signing rules with pool caps that restrict signing bonuses.
The Giants and A’s couldn’t pay more than a $300,000 bonus, plus the minimum $545,000 salary. Each team started with a pool of between $4.75 million and $5.75 million, adjusted for competitive balance.
The Rangers can pay the most ($3.54 million) followed by the Yankees ($3.5 million), Twins ($3.07 million) and Pirates ($2.27 million). It’s nothing compared with the $200 million Ohtani could have commanded on the open market.
Had he waited two years, he would have been 25 and able to get top dollar by going to the highest bidder. However, he prefers to play in the majors right away, and his financial sacrifice makes him perhaps the first athlete in history to say it’s not about the money and actually mean it.
Because of the ground rules, all teams basically are on a level playing field. The Yankees can’t simply outspend every other team by $50 million, so every club can believe it has a chance, though the Yankees, Dodgers, Mariners and Rangers are considered favorites if only because of their history with attracting Japanese players.
Officials from MLB, the players’ union and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball agreed last week on a new posting system after weeks of negotiations. In Ohtani’s case, he’d have a 21-day window from the time he’s posted, as soon as Friday, to choose a team, which would pay a $20 million posting fee to the Fighters.
The lucky team would sign Ohtani to a minor-league deal, per the international signing rules. Don’t feel sorry for him — he stands to make plenty in endorsements, especially in Japan.
The Giants and A’s have done their due diligence by scouting Ohtani in person and analyzing gobs of video and statistical data. Evans accompanied assistant GM Jeremy Shelley to Japan, and several team scouts have filed reports. Steve Sharpe, an A’s special assistant in pro and international scouting, is among the Oakland officials to have seen Ohtani.
Neither team can expect to sign Ohtani, but consider him only a bonus.
The Giants, whose focus for now is Giancarlo Stanton, can try to sell Ohtani on their city, ballpark and three World Series championships in eight years, though manager Bruce Bochy expressed skepticism in September about Ohtani playing in the National League because there’s no DH. Bochy suggested the two-way role might be better suited for a reliever.
The A’s, who have been known over the years as trendsetters, figure to be willing to fully accommodate Ohtani’s aspirations as a hitter, not just a pitcher. They could sell him on being the front man for a rebuilding process, which might not be a stretch considering Ohtani’s low-key lifestyle and frugal means, at least to this point.
Ohtani chose Creative Artists Agency to represent him, in particular, agent Nez Balelo. CAA represents the Giants’ Buster Posey and Oakland’s Jed Lowrie.
On Friday, Balelo sent letters to each team (through the commissioner’s office) asking what plans it has for Ohtani, how it views him as both a pitcher and hitter, and why he’d fit into its team and city, along with background on the club’s player development, medical department and facilities.
Also, according to the Associated Press, clubs were asked to “detail resources for Ohtani’s cultural assimilation into the team’s city,” which could help the pursuits of the Giants and A’s, considering their demographically diverse cities.
Balelo asked clubs to answer in both English and Japanese as soon as possible, but not to submit financial terms. MLB has warned teams of severe penalties if they try to offer side deals to guarantee Ohtani more salary or any other means of future compensation.