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OC Register: As the Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes heats up, no word from Angels, Dodgers about the race


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Angels and Dodgers fans are hoping “no news is good news.”

As word of teams being eliminated from the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes spread around the major leagues on Sunday, there was silence from the Angels and Dodgers, perhaps reason for their fans to remain optimistic they are in the race.

The Japanese two-way superstar was posted on Friday, and his agents have been letting suitors know if they would continue in the process by meeting Ohtani.

Reports surfaced that the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres were among the finalists, while more than a dozen clubs confirmed they were out. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, whose team was eliminated, said he believes Ohtani wants to be on the West Coast, and in a smaller market.

If the Angels and Dodgers got word that they were finalists, they weren’t saying. Messages left for officials with both teams were not returned.

It is unclear how many teams remain. Ohtani and his Los Angeles-based agents are expected to meet in person with teams this week, with subsequent visits to their home cities likely.

Ohtani has until Dec. 22 to sign. Because of his extraordinary talent and the fact that his contract is limited, all 30 teams were expected to make a run at him. His agent requested presentations from clubs about how they planned to use him and what their city had to offer him.

The Angels likely tried to sell Ohtani on the opportunity for the 23-year-old to DH when he’s not pitching, the chance to play with Mike Trout, on a team with an outstanding defense, and in a region with a large Japanese population.

On Thursday, the Angels made a trade with the Atlanta Braves to increase the size of their international spending pool to $1.315 million, which means they could offer Ohtani the seventh-highest amount of money. The leaders are the Texas Rangers, at just over $3.5 million.

The Dodgers can offer only $300,000 as a signing bonus (due to restrictions on their international signings) but the questionnaire sent to teams by Ohtani’s agents a little over a week ago gave signs of other priorities. The Dodgers have a long history with Japanese players starting with Hideo Nomo in the 1990s and continuing through Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda this past season.

The Dodgers have scouted Otani extensively and were even close to signing him out of high school five years ago when he considered jumping to the United States and skipping the Japanese league entirely. More recently, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, director of player personnel Galen Carr and former Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser were part of a contingent that traveled to Japan in August to watch Otani play.

The team that Ohtani chooses will also have to pay a $20 million posting fee to the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Even if he ends up costing at much as $23 million — the bonus, plus the posting fee — to his new team, he’s considered a bargain.

A right-hander who throws 100 mph, Ohtani went 10-4 with a 1.86 ERA in 2016, his last full season in Japan. He missed much of the 2017 season with injuries, posting a 3.20 ERA in five starts.

Offensively, Ohtani is a left-handed hitter who hit .332 with eight homers in 65 games this year in Japan, after hitting .322 with 22 homers in 2016. Those totals were in just 382 plate appearances, because Ohtani didn’t hit on the days he pitched, or the days before and after.

Most in the industry expect that an American League team has a better chance to sign him because of the presence of the DH. Ohtani played eight games in the outfield in 2014, and hasn’t played the field since. In the NL, he’d probably be limited to hitting on the days he pitches and pinch-hitting otherwise.

Although the Angels DH spot is mostly occupied by Albert Pujols, General Manager Billy Eppler said last week that Pujols has been working hard this winter — with no injury concerns — and could play more first base next season.

Asked about the possibility of accommodating a two-way player like Ohtani on a National League roster, Friedman said he thought it was “doable.”

“It takes being a little creative and trying to figure out the schedule and figure out recovery days,” Friedman said last month. “But we definitely think it’s doable and if we were ever to sign a player who’s talented enough to do both we’d look forward to the challenge of being creative to figure that out.”

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