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So Baseball fans... Any thoughts on where Shohei Otani may land?

Personally I'm hoping Yankees - with Tanaka re-signing and Matsui as an advisor there's a Japanese connection that could work to New York's advantage.
 
I'd say the Yankees are a definite possibility for Ohtani. The AL makes sense for him, because he'd potentially be able to DH on days he's not pitching. He'd obviously be able to hit as a pitcher in the NL, but I don't know how likely it is that whichever team he goes to would want to have him also out there playing in the field defensively.

I'm more curious to see where Stanton winds up.
 
Lampwick 43 said:
I'd say the Yankees are a definite possibility for Ohtani. The AL makes sense for him, because he'd potentially be able to DH on days he's not pitching. He'd obviously be able to hit as a pitcher in the NL, but I don't know how likely it is that whichever team he goes to would want to have him also out there playing in the field defensively.

I'm more curious to see where Stanton winds up.
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San Francisco for Stanton seems to be the general concensus online but i'll believe it when I see it for where he winds up.

Im hoping the Yanks pull out all the stops for Ohtani
 
The thing is because of his age and MLB rules .. no one can really pull out the stops for him based on what they have left in international spending and the posing fee is capped at $20M. It will come down to where he wants to play because the financial side will be relatively similar. However, if you see a team take back international $ in trades, that would certainly be an indication they are going all in
 
It will be interesting to see how this plays out .. MLB has warned teams about not making side deals for a second contract to help sign him.

Given what they just did to the Braves, teams should take that seriously it seems

The Yankees big advantage is they are the Yankees and if he wants to play in the big spotlight, there is certainly no bigger one than Yankee stadium.
 
Navigators Ghost said:
Yeah and I guess for a foreign player the lure of living in Manhattan could be a massive plus
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Who knows .. depends on what he wants to do/what type of environment he wants to live in. You would assume more international cities would have an advantage .. but he will not be making tons of money the first 2 years, though I assume he will have plenty of endorsement opportunities. Some players though certainly want no part of New York.
 
I actually wonder if the AL is a better fit for Ohtani than the NL. Sure, he can fit the DH role well, but do you really want the injury risk of a powerhouse pitcher behind the plate and on the mound during the majority of the season? I'm not well-read on Ohtani, however - what other positions does he play?

I've heard rumors that St. Louis is interested in Stanton. As a Cubs fan, I say SF is a much better fit!
 
Stanton has a no trade ... rumors are he wants to go west .. ideally to LA .. but I do not see how they can trade for him without being in luxury tax hell , given Miami certainly does not want to take back contracts.
 
So.... Mr Otani does NOT want to play in NYC, reports suggesting a west coast team.

Interesting that the Padres seem to be on the list, I suppose there would be less pressure and more room to experiment as cant imagine him being pulled from the starters job after a couple crappy games.
 
I have been reading up on him, seems that he is a pretty private person and likes training in Arizona ... so that pretty much wipes out a ton of teams. Rangers and Cubs are the 2 non west coast teams in the running. Looks like he met with the 7 finalists .. so we should find out soon, especially the contract for all 7 will be the same with variations in the signing bonus.

Hoping the Cubs pull this off, Maddon has to be an advantage over the other NL teams to figure out how to play him in different spots ... and only the Cubs and Dodgers can say they have a core of players that should be good for a while with legit shots to go to the post season often.
 
Seems like STL or San Fran. From what I read Miami has frameworks for deals with both, but Stanton has a no trade , which I am sure he is willing to waive for an earlier opt out with either team/some more $. Miami let him talk to both teams ... or he can block both and try to force a trade to LA, where it seems he really wants to be ... but Miami would have to take contracts back, which they do not want to do .. and some of the more obvious contracts like Gonzales have no trades.

Three possibilities .. most likely he goes to STL or SF with an opt out after 2 years and can sign with LA
some trade is worked out with LA, most likely a 3 team deal so LA can move contracts
he stays put, Miami guts the teams and he is traded to LA next year

In any case, once this and Otani is resolved, FA movement should really pick up some steam
 
Hmmm it'd be interesting to see how a trade to LA would work and who would be involved but I can see him fitting in and making a bigger impact on San Fran personally.

Looling forward to free agency picking up a bit, would like to see the Mets make a few signings in any case.
 
Navigators Ghost said:
Hmmm it'd be interesting to see how a trade to LA would work and who would be involved but I can see him fitting in and making a bigger impact on San Fran personally.

Looling forward to free agency picking up a bit, would like to see the Mets make a few signings in any case.
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From what I read (and who knows if this is true), his concern with the Giants is after they trade for him and some other moves they would need to make to stay out of paying a massive luxury tax is that they would not be fielding a competitive team. Now, if the Giants can get Otani, then they could try to trade Shark or Cueto to move some money and take less of a talent hit. Personally, I think the Giants would be better off trading one of those starters and/or Belt and signing JD Martinez, their farm system is fairly thin and they would have to trade pretty much anyone in it of value for Stanton.
 
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