Ranma wrote: I think it will come down to the Mariners and Dodgers with Seattle being the current favorite since he can follow in the footsteps of his idol Ichiro Suzuki as the new face of the franchise.
However, I hope for the Dodgers to convince Ohtani of the big picture.
I honestly do believe that we don't have a pray in hell. and I also sincerely believe the Giants are the close #2.
Ohtani not only "'wants", but he is willing to give up 100 million or more in guaranteed money by not waiting out 2 more years, he is willing to give up marketing/brand $, to actually take a steep paycut from his current deal with Nippon Ham, is "absolutely committed" to play 2 ways. nothing else i think matters to this kid other than a real chance to show he is the best in the world, not with just always never ending debates of 'who's the best pitcher'? or the 'best hitter'? but the "best overall baseball player at everything", ever.
the dodgers cannot guarantee him to hit 300 at bats next season. his bat, still impressive and has a great raw power, is no way major league proven or ready. we saw the best HR hitter from SK get creamed in the majors, in JH Park who now cut ties with the Twins and have returned back to his home team the Nexen Heroes of KBO. we are a championship contender #1. we cannot let any games slip away until we are mathematically the home team in the World Series, which obviously means to get the best record. even if we let the guys figure it out themselves and not be preachy about it, I am sure they all know. if Shohei gets off to a hot start, that's a different story, Im sure fans will demand patience from the management even if he hits 3 for 47 skid with 21Ks and 4 GIDPs in the month of June, if his April and May produced something like 275/330/470 in around 90 at bats with 6 HRs. but I think it is far more likely that he starts off under the Mendoza line than get off to the numbers I mentioned prior. if his start of the season on month of the April, or even during the spring training, say 2-21 in ST then turn in .190 in the first two months, he won't ever see the plate unless we run out of pinch hitters in late extra innings. he knows that.
the GIants have holes everywhere. they currently have a huge hole to fill in the LF, CF, 3B, pitching at all levels... the farm......
Ohtani can instantly fill two holes in a historically efficient way, the performance / pay ratio. even if he sucks out of the gate, what other choice would they have and what great expectations their fan base would have after becoming the worst team in the majors in the last season and a half? even if they trade for Stanton, they could move Hunter to CF when Ohtani plays, or platoon with right handed hitting Hunter Pence himself when Ohtani is in the lineup. Hunter's .670 OPS against RHP ain't too pretty anyway.
but in the end, if it is not the Mariners, I think the Padres are even more likely than us. it's a smaller market with no hope to compete, which means they can afford the Ohtani experiment in the box to their content just to sell the seats.
but but, the Angels would probably have a better chance than the Friars since they are an AL team that can spend a DH on him. the DH will be the bigger factor than the "NL will always have the starting pitcher hit" argument would be a cowardly path for Ohtani, knowing if he does not impress the management in high pressure team in a short time, then his guaranteed at bats in a season, is about 50-60 range for a starting pitcher in a season, if stay healthy reasonably enough in the rotation. that would not be satisfying for the kid who is looking for a 250-300 ABs a season.
the main desire of Ohtani's psychology, is in part a smaller market team means less media scrutiny, probably have lesser pressure to win now, and that his presence alone could be a huge ticket sales as well as sponsorships boost, therefore the managements will let him prove himself as long as it takes, where a team like ours cannot. another possible purpose is that a bigger cities lets in far more distractions of life. this is a kid who wants to live out the life of his baseball manga heroes. but also, this is the same kid who wilingly gave up playing the field and opted to be a DH. he will probably not willingly try to play defense in the majors when he gave that up in Japan in the first place. NL teams, unless in dire, no pressure situation, won't have a chance. that is us.
anywho, if you wish to skip all that rambling, just read here that... I think Ohtani is far from being a dodger at this point in our lives.
ehhhhh f it.
