Schneider jokes about Ohtani and the Jays: Will he return the hat?

Schneider Jokes About Ohtani’s “Loan”

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider humorously expressed his desire to get back a special item from Shohei Ohtani. Before signing a $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani met with Blue Jays executives on December 4, 2023. Ohtani will be the first batter of the World Series, playing for the Dodgers against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Friday night, after his outstanding performance in the National League Championship Series.

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.

John Schneider

Schneider also mentioned the “Decoy” jacket, Ohtani’s dog. Ohtani responded with a smile, indicating that the cap was in his garage. Ohtani led the Dodgers to last year’s title, batting .310 with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, and 59 stolen bases. Returning to pitching in a limited role this season after elbow surgery, he batted .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs and 20 steals, while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 62 in 47 innings. Last Friday, 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 offer first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500 million contract for 14 years starting next year, and helped Toronto reach the World Series for the first time since 1993.

He’s a great player. But apart from that, I think we have a great team and an incredible cast of characters and players. I think things worked out as they should.

John Schneider

Schneider isn’t sure how close the Blue Jays were to signing Ohtani. “When we met with him, you felt good and you felt good about the comments he made about our organization and the opportunity here. 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 what would happen if. You think about the 26 players we have.”