How Shohei Ohtani shocked the Blue Jays when leaving complex after secret meeting in 2023
Japanese star, his interpreter and his dog, Decoy, all left the Dunedin facility repping gear from the team
Article content
Following the 2023 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays embarked on a wild chase to try to land the biggest international star the sport has ever seen: Shohei Ohtani.
And the team must’ve been feeling understandably good about their chances of signing the Japanese sensation considering he walked out of their training complex wearing a Jays hat with a bag full of team gear.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
How Shohei Ohtani shocked the Blue Jays when leaving complex after secret meeting in 2023 Back to video
The secretive meeting between Ohtani and the Jays down in Dunedin has been detailed in the coming book The Franchise: Toronto Blue Jays: A Curated History of the Jays, by mlb.com beat reporter Keegan Matheson.
According to the book, Ohtani, his agent Nez Balelo and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara flew to Florida to visit the team’s state-of-the-art training complex and meet with Jays manager John Schneider, GM Ross Atkins, president Mark Shapiro and owner Edward Rogers.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Due to Ohtani’s request to keep his free-agency meetings a secret, the entire 65-acre complex was completely closed to players and personnel that day.
According to Matheson, the Blue Jays told players and staff that there was a “Rogers ownership meeting” taking place and that they needed to stay away for the day.
“We’re standing upstairs in the suite and (Jays senior manager of security Jason Weaving) is texting us updates. We watched him get out of the car. I’m wearing a sport coat and we’re all done up. It was like royalty was coming,” Schneider told Matheson. “There was no one in the complex. It was bare.
“It was like the president was coming. Seriously.”
While by all accounts the meeting between the team brass and Ohtani went very well, there was a sight towards the end of it that had the Jays optimistic about their chances.
The Jays had set up three lockers in the team’s clubhouse – complete with jerseys, gear, hats, bags and accessories — to show the star what he could expect should he sign with the team.
With the team’s envoy standing in the nearby dining area, Ohtani reportedly packed up the items from the lockers to take home with him.
He walked out of the clubhouse wearing a Blue Jays hat while Mizuhara also was decked out in team gear of his own. The pair even stopped to take photos together before departing.
Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, also got in on the action wearing a Canadian dog jacket that the team had bought for him.
According to Matheson, the team didn’t expect Ohtani to pack up the gear, thinking that showing him the locker mockup would just be a nice selling point to the star.
Of course, the story didn’t have a happy ending for the Jays. In December 2023, Ohtani chose to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the rest is literally history – Ohtani’s $700-million contract being the biggest ever signed by a baseball player.
He was well worth it in his first year with the Dodgers, leading L.A. to a World Series title while winning the NL MVP award after becoming the first player to ever hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.