The Blue Jays Nearly Had Shohei Ohtani — Now What?
It’s been a tough couple days to be a Blue Jays fan, to say the least. And it all started with a social media post, just like any good rumour — a private jet had filed a flight plan from John Wayne airport in Santa Ana, California to head to Toronto’s Pearson International, and Angels star Shohei Ohtani was apparently nearing a decision on who his new team was going to be. The finalists? The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Giants. That flight plan was all the kindling needed to kick off a firestorm of news and “news” about the star’s whereabouts.
A handful of posts snuck out throughout Friday regarding Shohei Ohtani’s decision. But one really caught fans by surprise — an article from Dodgers Nation’s JP Hoornstra, clearly announcing the news — the Blue Jays had won the big sweepstakes. Shortly after, a post on X from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, saying that the Blue Jays were indeed finalists, and that a decision was likely within the next day. Then, the post that shook the internet.
This was confirmation, from a reputable source, shared by a MLB Network personality, that Shohei Ohtani was indeed on his way to Toronto. It doesn’t get much clearer than that, especially amongst a mess of questionable speculation. And yet, by now, you’re aware that Ohtani was not in fact en-route to Toronto — he was at home in California, as the majority of other baseball minds would share a couple of hours following the Morosi post.
Unfortunately, after the post was sent, it was too late to backtrack. Posts about alleged team dinner reservations, people tracking what many suspected to be Ohtani’s plane, and reports of a press conference scheduled. For a moment, it seemed like Shohei to Toronto was all taking shape. Until, that is, it came out that Ohtani’s jet was not his in the first place — just a plane carrying none other than Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den’s Robert Herjavec—notably, something I unintentionally eluded to earlier in the day.
What’s perhaps more interesting however, is what really went on in the shadows of this all. It’s only fair I note here that I write not as a “big insider” — just someone with a fairly trustworthy source, certainly one with more access behind closed doors than myself and many others. Now, that being said…
This source, close to the Blue Jays front office, tells me it’s believed that not just was Toronto a front-runner, like many had suggested — but that there was likely a deal nearing completion, potentially even unofficially agreed to at one point between player and club. The deal was likely in the range of $550–600 million.
This suggested deal being on the one-yard line, let alone that it was being agreed to, could explain the handful of reports that it was in fact Toronto that Shohei Ohtani had chosen to sign with — because he may very well have chosen them. It’s not clear if the flight tracking, as well as the stories about Ohtani having made his decision, were tactics to entice Los Angeles even more to push their deal across the finish line. But when the dust settled, the Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t willing to let their dream signing walk north of the border, and so, they upped the ante.
No team was going to beat the contact the Dodgers and Shohei agreed to — 10 years, at a record-shattering $700 million. Just like that, baseball’s biggest star was off the market. And likely for good — since the contract includes not a single opt-out. In a span of a few words, the roller coaster ride ended, just like how many predicted it would — with Ohtani in Dodger blue.
For a handful of franchises that believed they had a real shot at him, moving on from the Shohei sweepstakes will have to happen quickly now — and the Blue Jays are likely at the forefront of that. From believing they had the deal done to having to take a step back and act like the past week didn’t happen isn’t exactly a small task for a front office. But Toronto has no choice.
The franchise has some glaring holes from last season, with names like Matt Chapman, Kevin Kiermaier and Whit Merrifield all on the free agent market. And after throwing hundreds of millions at one player, the hope for many fans is that the team is ready to divvy up that pile of cash amongst a couple of big names, like a Bellinger or Soler.
That said, the idea of a team doing that should be taken with a grain of salt. Money spent on Shohei Ohtani is almost a different currency — a business expense. Ohtani’s economic value to a team’s marketing, let alone his on-field performance would make almost any dollar amount worth it for a major franchise. Other baseball players, good as they may be, just can’t match the star power that he brings to a club. But for Toronto, there’s no time to sit back and take a deep breath.
Ohtani’s signing no doubt signals a major domino falling in free agency. For the rest of the teams across baseball, maybe excluding the Yankees, fresh off a Juan Soto trade, the scramble is now on full speed to pick up the rest of the pack. The countdown to next season feels like it has truly began now.
