Schneider Jokes About the “Stealing” of Ohtani from the Blue Jays
Toronto manager John Schneider expressed his humor and nostalgia when talking about Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star who now plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Before signing a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers, Ohtani met with Blue Jays executives on December 4, 2023, at the team’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida. Ohtani, now with the Dodgers, will be the first batter in the World Series, playing against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Friday night, following his outstanding performance in the National League Championship Series.Schneider also joked about the jacket for “Decoy”, referring to Ohtani’s dog. Ohtani responded with a smile when asked about the cap: “It’s in my garage,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. Ohtani led the Dodgers to last year’s title, batting .310 with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, and 59 stolen bases. This season, returning to pitching in a limited role after elbow surgery, he 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 Friday, he hit three home runs while pitching six scoreless innings and striking out 10 against Milwaukee, as the Dodgers completed a four-game sweep in 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.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.He’s a great player. But aside from that, I think we have a great team and an incredible cast of characters and players. I think things worked out the way they were supposed to,” Schneider said.
John Schneider
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. But you never really 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 can’t really think about the what-ifs. You think about the 26 players we have,” he said.
John Schneider
