Poll: Who signs Shohei Ohtani?

[Second Base]

5 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Having spoken to Dipoto over the years and seeing him speak at our events for three years in a row, he's a charmer, attractive personality and knows his baseball. 

He would seem to have an edge, though I've never spoken to Eppler or seen him work  behind the scenes so it's hard to compare the two. 

From what I've read, Ohtani's personality is similar to Trout. He's a great teammate but prefers not to have a spotlight on him. 

Ohtani is from a rural farming village and as I understand, he spurned the Dodgers advances because of a general mistrust of big city America. It was too far out of his comfort zone.

I'm guessing if Jerry tries the charm, he'll see right through the salesman pitch. I think Eppler is a great communicator, and very authentic. Brian Sabean too.

That could come into play.

 

[Chuck]

4 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Shig heads a baseball talk show in Japan and sells real estate out of Irvine..   Having lived in both Seattle and OC, he chose OC to settle in. 

Awesome. I wonder if Shiggy is pulled in to woo Ohtani?

[VariousCrap]

3 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Yep. The Mariners have had a legit position player in Ichiro, a dominant closer in Sasaki and a very good pitcher in Iwakuma. Same is true really for the Dodgers with Nomo, Maeda and that fat Japanese pitcher I cannot remember his name that turned out to be a bust after all the hype. 

The Angels have really only had Shiggy, but Ohtani probably was too young to remember him pitching in middle relief for the Halos. 

Exactly what I'm thinking.  It just seems like, according to reports out there, it is important for Ohtani to build his own Japanese legacy and not have to deal with being in the shadow of former great Japanese players.  The Angels give him that opportunity.  They also give him the chance to DH a couple games a week, probably pinch hit and pinch run too.  Add in getting to play ball with the best player on the planet, learn from a baseball legend like Pujols and the fact that this team is going to be in it in 2018, that has to be very attractive for him. 

[Chuck]

4 minutes ago, Billy_Ball said:

Japanese do like two things - Disneyland and baseball.

[gurn67]

If the meeting is held at Del Taco, he'll be a Halo.

[Inside Pitch]

11 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Awesome. I wonder if Shiggy is pulled in to woo Ohtani?

Dude, you would think they might try that -- he's supposedly really well liked in Japan in part because he's actually a funny dude..   Gotta figure Ohtani has seen his show or his work as a sportscaster out there.  Ichiro loved the guy too...  Shig also has some insight into MS as a manager.

[Homebrewer]

11 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Yep. The Mariners have had a legit position player in Ichiro, a dominant closer in Sasaki and a very good pitcher in Iwakuma. Same is true really for the Dodgers with Nomo, Maeda and that fat Japanese pitcher I cannot remember his name that turned out to be a bust after all the hype. 

The Angels have really only had Shiggy, but Ohtani probably was too young to remember him pitching in middle relief for the Halos. 

What about Matsui?  Unlike most Japanese players, Matsui played for the same manager that's (unfortunately) still here. No other contender can claim that. 

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, gurn67 said:

If the meeting is held at Del Taco, he'll be a Halo.

If not held there then someone needs to slide one of the old table numbers onto the table before they start the meeting.   Can't hurt.

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, Homebrewer said:

What about Matsui?  Unlike most Japanese players, Matsui played for the same manager that's (unfortunately) still here. No other contender can claim that. 

That's true.. Forgot about Matsui! 

[gotbeer]

In all seriousness, I think it's between the Angels and Mariners.  I wouldn't have thought the Angels had a shot in hell.  But freeing up international money, and his comment that he wants a smaller market really put us up there.  Dogs and Cubs suffer from the big market.  Pads are just too small market.  Rangers aren't really on the west coast.  And the Giants have the NL and aren't really a small market.  

Mariners have the history of Japanese players.  Is a small market.  And have shown they will get behind a Japanese star.  On a side note, I would not be surprised if Ichiro returns to Seattle.  Which would also be a plus for Seattle.  Cons, is they never win.  Very pitchers park, so his offensive numbers would suffer.  But looking at his stats, he doesn't seem to be a homer machine.  

Angels is a small market, but can border on big with him.  Doesn't have the rabid stabby stabby fans like the big markets, so he can still be comfortable.  He can also be more anonymous, where with Seattle, he will be the face of the franchise.  Even with the Angels, Trout has been relatively anonymous outside the field.  Pressure wise, there would be less on the Angels than any team outside of the Padres.  It also helps that we are a more neutral park.  Cons is we haven't made the playoffs in a while.  

One other thing to consider with him is that I don't know if he will stick as a starting pitcher.  For some reason, he seems to have more of a reliever vibe to him.  The most he has pitched in a season is 160 IP.  

In the end, I don't think he will match the hype.  I think he will be a reliever eventually, and he won't be a power hitter.  

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=otani-000sho

[Angelsfan1984]

1 minute ago, gotbeer said:

In all seriousness, I think it's between the Angels and Mariners.  I wouldn't have thought the Angels had a shot in hell.  But freeing up international money, and his comment that he wants a smaller market really put us up there.  Dogs and Cubs suffer from the big market.  Pads are just too small market.  Rangers aren't really on the west coast.  And the Giants have the NL and aren't really a small market.  

Mariners have the history of Japanese players.  Is a small market.  And have shown they will get behind a Japanese star.  On a side note, I would not be surprised if Ichiro returns to Seattle.  Which would also be a plus for Seattle.  Cons, is they never win.  Very pitchers park, so his offensive numbers would suffer.  But looking at his stats, he doesn't seem to be a homer machine.  

Angels is a small market, but can border on big with him.  Doesn't have the rabid stabby stabby fans like the big markets, so he can still be comfortable.  He can also be more anonymous, where with Seattle, he will be the face of the franchise.  Even with the Angels, Trout has been relatively anonymous outside the field.  Pressure wise, there would be less on the Angels than any team outside of the Padres.  It also helps that we are a more neutral park.  Cons is we haven't made the playoffs in a while.  

One other thing to consider with him is that I don't know if he will stick as a starting pitcher.  For some reason, he seems to have more of a reliever vibe to him.  The most he has pitched in a season is 160 IP.  

In the end, I don't think he will match the hype.  I think he will be a reliever eventually, and he won't be a power hitter.  

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=otani-000sho

The IP is due to the fact that he's been in a 6 man rotation. Hell we may have all of our pitchers around that if they choose to do the same thing here.

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

If we lose out I just hope he doesn't go to the Rangers, Mariners or Dodgers.

Considering all the talk entering the offseason was that the Angels wouldn't even bother looking at him, I'm just happy to see Eppler is being true to his word and they are looking at every avenue available when looking to acquire talent.   Ohtani's going to be a huge help to whatever team he signs with but you throw him into the mix with Trout, Simmons, an Upton.  bam..  the Angels suddenly have a pretty solid foundation of players...

[Chuck]

8 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Considering all the talk entering the offseason was that the Angels wouldn't even bother looking at him, I'm just happy to see Eppler is being true to his word and they are looking at every avenue available when looking to acquire talent.   Ohtani's going to be a huge help to whatever team he signs with but you throw him into the mix with Trout, Simmons, an Upton.  bam..  the Angels suddenly have a pretty solid foundation of players...

If I'm a pitcher signing with a team where money really isn't an issue, the weather is great, the team has a chance to compete every year and make the playoffs, why wouldn't I sign with a club that has the best up the middle defense in Simmons/Trout and a Gold Glove catcher who is one of the best in the game at controlling the running game and framing pitches. 

[NorCal Halo]

Maybe he is reading these posts and seeing how racist Angel fans really are?

I think NL teams are just as likely given that the pitcher is guaranteed to hit and there are many opportunities to pinch hit.

[Chuck]

7 minutes ago, NorCal Halo said:

Maybe he is reading these posts and seeing how racist Angel fans really are?

I think NL teams are just as likely given that the pitcher hits and there are many opportunities to pinch hit.

He said he doesn't like to hit on days that he pitches. 

If that's true, NL teams don't have an edge it would seem.

[TroutBaseball]

Being the only Japanese star on a team makes some sense to me.  If you're in Japan and you see someone wearing a Seattle hat you assume they root for Ichiro,  NY - Matsui, LA - Nomo, Texas - Darvish, etc.  Every Angels logo in the country would be a symbol of Ohtani.

[TroutBaseball]

Dipoto has the gift of Woo. That makes me hope we present after he does.

[NorCal Halo]

4 minutes ago, TroutBaseball said:

Being the only Japanese star on a team makes some sense to me.  If you're in Japan and you see someone wearing a Seattle hat you assume they root for Ichiro,  NY - Matsui, LA - Nomo, etc.  Every Angels logo in the country would be a symbol of Ohtani.

Ohtaniheim? or Ohtni?

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, nate said:

It would exclude the Angels too, but I doubt that matters to him.

How would it exclude the Angels, because Matsui played here for a year?  When people think of Matsui they don't think Angels or A's, they think Yankees.

[NorCal Halo]

Matsui played here?  How did he do?

[TroutBaseball]

5 minutes ago, NorCal Halo said:

Ohtaniheim? or Ohtni?

OH! tni

[NorCal Halo]

8 minutes ago, TroutBaseball said:

OH! tni

That could be used both when he hits a bomb or when he gives up a bomb.

[Chuck]

Just think after he pitches a scoreless inning or solid game, the announcers could go with:

Easy Peasy Japaneasy, for Ohtani. 

[NorCal Halo]

8 minutes ago, Randy Gradishar said:

I was actually thinking about this as well. The fate of the world could depend on Angelswin.

I appreciate the sarcasm.   I don't appreciate the obligatory references to Pearl Harbor and Chinatown when mentioning someone who is Japanese.

[Chimi]

3 minutes ago, NorCal Halo said:

I appreciate the sarcasm.   I don't appreciate the obligatory references to Pearl Harbor and Chinatown when mentioning someone who is Japanese.

I agree.  The Pearl Harbor reference was a little much.  But it seems some people on this board feel like they have to one up previous racist comments with even harsher ones until someone eventually crosses the line.