SHO WILL TRY!

But don’t get too hyped, Met fans

ORLANDO — Sandy Alderson said he is excited at the prospect of seeing Japanese star Shohei Otani play in the major leagues next season. The Mets GM, however, tried Wednesday to temper fans’ excitement at the prospect of getting to see the 23-year-old two-way star in a Mets uniform. Acknowledging reports that the Mets have not ruled out making a bid for Otani, Alderson said that at this point all 30 teams are considering trying to get a player who could be transformative to baseball.

“I think the only downside (in looking into the possibility) is creating a set of false expectations on the part of fans which I think have to be tempered,” Alderson said Wednesday morning before leaving MLB’s annual GM meetings at the Waldorf Astoria. “This guy could go to any one of 30 teams. As I said at this stage, everybody has to be somewhat interested.

“There is a lot to be learned about the process and what his intentions are. As the posting agreement gets formalized, or his situation gets grandfathered, as he names an agent, as more of these details come to light, then one can think more concretely about how you would approach it,” Alderson said. “Right now I think it’s still, there are still things about the circumstances that haven’t been determined.”

As Dan Halem, Chief Legal Officer for MLB said Wednesday afternoon, there is no protocol currently in place with the Japanese baseball league to transfer players. The framework of a deal to post players has been hammered out between the leagues, but now it is awaiting approval by the MLB Players Association.

“I am hopeful it can wrap up our discussions with the union soon, maybe within a week. In terms of a timeline, any agreement we reach has to be voted on by ownership. There will be no vote tomorrow, so it will have to be done via telephone,” Halem said. “Once it’s all in place, I am hopeful we can have players posted by early December.”

Two industr y sources said Tuesday night that the Mets have not ruled out going after Otani, a left-handed hitting outfielder and right-handed pitcher. As Alderson points out, the only risk right now i n teams dreaming about landing Otani is perhaps the disappointment i n their fan base when he lands somewhere else.

Under the collective bargaining agreement that MLB reached with MLBPA last winter, Japanese players under the age of 25 will be subject to a bonus capped by a team’s international signing pool money. That can range anywhere from $350,000 to $3.5 million.

That would mean the team that signs Otani would pay $20 million to his Japanese team, the Nippon-Ham Fighters, but then he would be signed to a very affordable minor-league contract — at least for that first season.

With the Mets looking to keep their payroll under the $154.4 million that they had on Opening Day last year, making a play for Otani is a very price-effective way to make a big splash this winter and get fans interested in the 2018 season, which by the way, they are starting to sell singlegame tickets for later this week.

Otani is an exciting and exceptional player, Alderson admitted.

Since 2013, in 82 starts (and three relief appearances), Otani has a 2.52 ERA in 543 innings with the Ham Fighters. Otani has a career .286 batting average with a . 358 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.

Alderson said it would be interesting to see how Otani, who has said he wants to continue as an outfielder and a pitcher, adapts to baseball in the big leagues, but perhaps even more interesting to see how MLB adapts to him.

“I think it would be f un to watch him make the attempt. Maybe at some point, he will decide to do one or the other. I said from time to time, this is an entertainment business,” Alderson said. “The foundation is baseball, but it’s entertainment. To see someone with that kind of talent do potentially what others have not been able to do, that will be an exciting experience for the team involved as well as baseball. I think it will be fascinating.”