Official Shohei Ohtani Thread (Update: Ohtani signs with Dodgers 10 years, $700 million)

[vaff87]

The only reason would be to do a press conference. Everything else could be done elsewhere.

Even that, press conferences usually seem to be at least a day or so after the news of a signing breaks. Sometimes in the off-season it can be weeks.

Yes, it would have been odd for him to be flying in on a Friday night for sure. Poor Kikuchi btw. No one to eat dinner with.

I might be wrong, but I think I heard someone say it was a surprise party for his wife.

Altho if that’s the case, someone spoiled the surprise

[rapstarter]

Even that, press conferences usually seem to be at least a day or so after the news of a signing breaks. Sometimes in the off-season it can be weeks.

Yes, it would have been odd for him to be flying in on a Friday night for sure. Poor Kikuchi btw. No one to eat dinner with.

I might be wrong, but I think I heard someone say it was a surprise party for his wife.

Altho if that’s the case, someone spoiled the surprise

That was just a joke, and like everything else that wasn't a joke today, the Kikuchi party story was fake.

[SharoneWright]

Why wouldn't they try to capitalize on that? Everyone else has been doing it all day.

Because maybe they actually want the player, more than the hype - that the player seems to abhor

I don't think they care what the player does or doesn't abhor. Nor should they?

Do you think the boost in viewers for that 1 hour brought in a ton more advertising dollars?

Like what was actually the point?

And yeah, they should care with the player wants. That’s the whole point of negotiating with him and trying to sign him.

[Randle McMurphy]

Even that, press conferences usually seem to be at least a day or so after the news of a signing breaks. Sometimes in the off-season it can be weeks.

Yes, it would have been odd for him to be flying in on a Friday night for sure. Poor Kikuchi btw. No one to eat dinner with.

I might be wrong, but I think I heard someone say it was a surprise party for his wife.

Altho if that’s the case, someone spoiled the surprise

That was just a joke from a known troll on Jays twitter as far as I'm aware. Kikuchi will be alone.

[Randle McMurphy]

Because maybe they actually want the player, more than the hype - that the player seems to abhor

I don't think they care what the player does or doesn't abhor. Nor should they?

Do you think the boost in viewers for that 1 hour brought in a ton more advertising dollars?

Like what was actually the point?

I couldn't tell what kind of ratings they got for that hour (nor would I ever listen to those two), but I imagine it was their best hour of radio for Rogers since the playoffs ended. So yes, why not?

And yeah, they should care with the player wants. That’s the whole point of negotiating with him and trying to sign him.

Blair and Barker are negotiating and trying to sign Shohei now?

[SharoneWright]

I don't think they care what the player does or doesn't abhor. Nor should they?

Do you think the boost in viewers for that 1 hour brought in a ton more advertising dollars?

Like what was actually the point?

I couldn't tell what kind of ratings they got for that hour (nor would I ever listen to those two), but I imagine it was their best hour of radio for Rogers since the playoffs ended. So yes, why not?

Because if you want a Player, you should care what he wants. This is the negotiation stages. Where you try to give the player what they want so they sign with you.

[Ranger One]

I will add though, that after all of this, the hype, the hysteria etc. If the jays end up NOT getting Ohtani, they can pretty much kiss this upcoming season goodbye in terms of fan engagement and any and all revenue that goes along with attending a Blue Jays game. Because they will not only have lost out on their Plan A (Ohtani) AND Plan B (Soto), but will now have to settle for guys like Kiermaier and Chapman as their "big" offseason moves. Which basically means running it back with the exact same disaster of a lineup they had last year. How do you sell that to your fanbase?

They (the front office) have basically put all their eggs into one basket going after Ohtani and not getting him will be nothing short of a disaster in every conceivable way, from upset fans, a nonexisting free agency market, lack of media interest etc etc etc.

[Randle McMurphy]

Do you think the boost in viewers for that 1 hour brought in a ton more advertising dollars?

Like what was actually the point?

I couldn't tell what kind of ratings they got for that hour (nor would I ever listen to those two), but I imagine it was their best hour of radio for Rogers since the playoffs ended. So yes, why not?

Because if you want a Player, you should care what he wants. This is gonna go station stages. Where you try to give the player what they want so they sign with you.

You seem to have somehow come to the idea that Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are involved in the Shohei Ohtani talks or have any control whatsoever in anything that's going on here. Odd.

[JTT]

Why do I keep falling for this.

Me, too. Again and again and again. Even though in the grand scheme of things…not important. It’s just….soul crushing. Back to the Dodgers being the favorite…What a way to start the weekend

[SharoneWright]

I couldn't tell what kind of ratings they got for that hour (nor would I ever listen to those two), but I imagine it was their best hour of radio for Rogers since the playoffs ended. So yes, why not?

Because if you want a Player, you should care what he wants. This is the negotiation stages. Where you try to give the player what they want so they sign with you.

You seem to have somehow come to the idea that Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are involved in the Shohei Ohtani talks or have any control whatsoever in anything that's going on here. Odd.

Were the Dodgers pleased with Dave Roberts?

Atkins goes the great pains not to say a word on MLB TV for a whole week, and then they trot these two out? Now?

[rapstarter]

Because if you want a Player, you should care what he wants. This is the negotiation stages. Where you try to give the player what they want so they sign with you.

You seem to have somehow come to the idea that Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are involved in the Shohei Ohtani talks or have any control whatsoever in anything that's going on here. Odd.

Were the Dodgers pleased with Dave Roberts?

Atkins goes the great pains not to say a word on MLB TV for a whole week, and then they trot these two out? Now?

To be fair, I don't think anyone outside Toronto gave these two any attention. Plus, it's not like they had anything to share.

[Randle McMurphy]

Because if you want a Player, you should care what he wants. This is the negotiation stages. Where you try to give the player what they want so they sign with you.

You seem to have somehow come to the idea that Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are involved in the Shohei Ohtani talks or have any control whatsoever in anything that's going on here. Odd.

Were the Dodgers pleased with Dave Roberts?

Atkins goes the great pains not to say a word on MLB TV for a whole week, and then they trot these two out? Now?

Dave Roberts is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are a couple of guys who get paid peanuts by Rogers to take a few phone calls after games, neither of which are employed by the Toronto Blue Jays and neither of which are directed by Ross Atkins to do anything at all. Not really seeing the equivalence here.

Are you under the assumption that nobody on the Fan590 has been talking about Shohei all week?

[polo007]

Read on Twitter

[SharoneWright]

You seem to have somehow come to the idea that Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are involved in the Shohei Ohtani talks or have any control whatsoever in anything that's going on here. Odd.

Were the Dodgers pleased with Dave Roberts?

Dave Roberts is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are a couple of guys who get paid peanuts by Rogers to take a few phone calls after games, neither of which are employed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Not really seeing the equivalence here.

Are you under the assumption that nobody on the Fan590 has been talking about Shohei all week?

Dave Roberts went rogue from Management.

In our case tonight, management literally promoted media speculation. Didn’t just tolerate it, but promoted it.

It’s a lot different than a Zoom call with a blank white background.

Maybe we have changed strategy?

[Cyrus]

Read on Twitter

LOL This can only happen to Toronto fans!

[Randle McMurphy]

Were the Dodgers pleased with Dave Roberts?

Dave Roberts is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are a couple of guys who get paid peanuts by Rogers to take a few phone calls after games, neither of which are employed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Not really seeing the equivalence here.

Are you under the assumption that nobody on the Fan590 has been talking about Shohei all week?

Dave Roberts went rogue from Management.

In our case tonight, management literally promoted media speculation. Didn’t just tolerate it, but promoted it.

It’s a lot different than a Zoom call with a blank white background.

Maybe we have changed strategy?

The Fan590 producers put two guys on to talk about Shohei Ohtani at a time when everyone else in the baseball world was talking about Shohei Ohtani. What a crime.

Again, do you think Fan590 hasn't been talking about Shohei Ohtani all week? What a bizarre thing to get upset about.

[SharoneWright]

Dave Roberts is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are a couple of guys who get paid peanuts by Rogers to take a few phone calls after games, neither of which are employed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Not really seeing the equivalence here.

Are you under the assumption that nobody on the Fan590 has been talking about Shohei all week?

Dave Roberts went rogue from Management.

In our case tonight, management literally promoted media speculation. Didn’t just tolerate it, but promoted it.

It’s a lot different than a Zoom call with a blank white background.

Maybe we have changed strategy?

The Fan590 producers put two guys on to talk about Shohei Ohtani at a time when everyone else in the baseball world was talking about Shohei Ohtani. What a crime.

Again, do you think Fan590 hasn't been talking about Shohei Ohtani all week? What a bizarre thing to get upset about.

But Ohtani wasn’t on the plane. So either Rogers wants to scare him away with more chatter – something Ohtani apparently doesn’t like, or glory in their failure.

[JN]

And now Blair and the guys on whatever crap show they have on SN are speculating whether the freak show that happened in Toronto today, may have turned off Ohtani in any way.

[Randle McMurphy]

Dave Roberts went rogue from Management.

In our case tonight, management literally promoted media speculation. Didn’t just tolerate it, but promoted it.

It’s a lot different than a Zoom call with a blank white background.

Maybe we have changed strategy?

The Fan590 producers put two guys on to talk about Shohei Ohtani at a time when everyone else in the baseball world was talking about Shohei Ohtani. What a crime.

Again, do you think Fan590 hasn't been talking about Shohei Ohtani all week? What a bizarre thing to get upset about.

But Ohtani wasn’t on the plane. So either Rogers wants to scare him away with more chatter – something Ohtani apparently doesn’t like, or glory in their failure.

Ohtani can be on a plane or not be on a plane and it would have nothing to do with him remaining still very much fair game to talk about on the biggest sports radio network in the country. What should they talk about? The Raptors?

[JN]

The Fan590 producers put two guys on to talk about Shohei Ohtani at a time when everyone else in the baseball world was talking about Shohei Ohtani. What a crime.

Again, do you think Fan590 hasn't been talking about Shohei Ohtani all week? What a bizarre thing to get upset about.

But Ohtani wasn’t on the plane. So either Rogers wants to scare him away with more chatter – something Ohtani apparently doesn’t like, or glory in their failure.

Ohtani can be on a plane or not be on a plane and it would have nothing to do with him remaining still very much fair game to talk about on the biggest sports radio network in the country. What should they talk about? The Raptors?

Are you saying Ron Harper being waived is not a huge story?