Schneider Jokes About Ohtani and His “Booty” From the Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider has humorously expressed his desire to get back a very specific object from Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star who now plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Before signing a $700 million contract with the Dodgers, Ohtani met with Blue Jays executives on December 4, 2023, at the team’s spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida. Ohtani, who led the Dodgers to the title last year, hit .310 with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, and 59 stolen bases.Schneider also joked about the jacket of “Decoy”, Ohtani’s dog, a Nederlandse kooikerhondje. “It’s like, give us our stuff back already.” Ohtani, who is returning to pitching in a limited role this season after elbow surgery, batted .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases, while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 62 in 47 innings. Last week, he connected three home runs while pitching six scoreless innings and striking out 10 against Milwaukee, as the Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the National League Championship Series. Without Ohtani, the Blue Jays were able to give first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500 million, 14-year contract that begins next year, and helped Toronto reach the World Series for the first time since 1993.I hope you brought your cap, the Blue Jay’s cap that he took from us at our meeting. I hope he brought it back, finally,” Schneider said on Thursday.
John Schneider
Schneider isn’t sure how close the Blue Jays were to signing Ohtani. “When we met with him, you felt good about it, and you felt good about the comments he was giving about our organization and the opportunity here,” he said. “But you really never know what a player feels in free agency, and there are a lot of things that have to align for them personally as well, so you really can’t think about the what-ifs. You think about the 26 players we have.”He’s a great player. But other than that, I think we have a great team and a cast of incredible characters and players. I think things worked out the way they were supposed to,” Schneider commented.
John Schneider
