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	<title>Toronto &#187; Shohei Otani</title>
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		<title>Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 82: Time to ZiP(S) Up for Winter</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/12/06/artificial-turf-wars-ep-82-time-to-zips-up-for-winter/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Dec 2017 11:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Artifical Turf Wars]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Marcus Stroman]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Ohtani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Otani]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Episode 82 ESPN&#8217;s Dan Szymborski stops by to discuss his ZiPS projections for the Blue Jays in 2018, with specific discussion about the middle infield, Aaron Sanchez, and the general direction of the team. Greg, Josh, and Nick then discuss the Aledmys Diaz pickup, Shohei Ohtani not joining the Jays, the non-tenders of Ryan Goins [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/turfpod"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-9098" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/patreon_logo-300x94.png" alt="patreon_logo" width="252" height="79" /></a><br />
<strong><br />
Episode 82</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/DSzymborski" target="_blank">ESPN&#8217;s Dan Szymborski</a> stops by to discuss his ZiPS projections for the Blue Jays in 2018, with specific discussion about the middle infield, Aaron Sanchez, and the general direction of the team. Greg, Josh, and Nick then discuss the Aledmys Diaz pickup, Shohei Ohtani not joining the Jays, the non-tenders of Ryan Goins and Tom Koehler, the Marcus Stroman/Jeff Blair feud, and Gregg Zaun being fired by Sportsnet. They also answer listener questions and bring on a Patron to play Swing and a Drive.</p>
<p><strong>Note: The show is now going biweekly unless something important breaks, but there will be occasional special bonus episodes of &#8220;Extra Pellets&#8221; with in depth content exclusively for <a href="https://www.patreon.com/turfpod" target="_blank">Patreon donors</a>. </strong></p>
<p><strong>Podcast</strong>: <a class="powerpress_link_pinw" title="Play in New Window" href="http://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/044/show_10445925_2017_12_06_03_40_46.mp3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Play in new window</a> | <a class="powerpress_link_d" title="Download" href="http://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/044/show_10445925_2017_12_06_03_40_46.mp3" rel="nofollow">Download</a></p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/blue-jays-plus-podcast/id705699884?mt=2"><img class="alignnone wp-image-63" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/03/itunes1.png" alt="itunes" width="168" height="62" /></a><a href="https://soundcloud.com/turfpod"><img class=" wp-image-9054 alignleft" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/soundcloud.jpg" alt="soundcloud" width="123" height="60" /></a></p>
<p>Follow the guys on twitter: <a title="@coolhead2010" href="https://twitter.com/coolhead2010" target="_blank">@coolhead2010</a> and <a title="@JoshuaHowsam" href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaHowsam" target="_blank">@JoshuaHowsam</a>.</p>
<p>Intro music is Slow Burn (<a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/" rel="cc:attributionURL">Kevin MacLeod</a>) under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="license">CC BY 3.0</a>.</p>
<div><strong>Podcast Email</strong>-<a href="mailto:artificialturfwars@baseballprospectus.com" target="_blank">artificialturfwars@baseballprospectus.com</a> Please drop us a line if there is a guest you&#8217;d particularly like us to interview, to submit a question to <strong>Stump the Josh</strong>, or to simply give us feedback on the podcast. We&#8217;d love to hear from you!</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Dear Shohei: A Recruitment Letter from the Toronto Blue Jays</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/11/27/dear-shohei-a-recruitment-letter-from-the-toronto-blue-jays/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/11/27/dear-shohei-a-recruitment-letter-from-the-toronto-blue-jays/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Nov 2017 11:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Otani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=14328</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the weekend, Shohei Otani&#8217;s agent sent a memo to all 30 MLB teams requesting they write an explanatory letter detailing why their club is a fit for the Japanese superstar. It should include the following specifics:  “An evaluation of Shohei’s talent as a pitcher and/or a hitter; “Player development, medical, training and player performance philosophies and capabilities; “Major [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Over the weekend, Shohei Otani&#8217;s agent <a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2017/11/shohei_ohtanis_agent_asks_mlb_teams_for_written_answers" target="_blank">sent a memo to all 30 MLB teams</a> requesting they write an explanatory letter detailing why their club is a fit for the Ja</i><em>panese superstar. It should include the following specifics: </em></p>
<ol>
<li><em>“An evaluation of Shohei’s talent as a pitcher and/or a hitter;</em></li>
<li><em>“Player development, medical, training and player performance philosophies and capabilities;</em></li>
<li><em>“Major League, Minor League, and Spring Training facilities;</em></li>
<li><em>“Resources for Shohei’s cultural assimilation;</em></li>
<li><em>“A detailed plan for integrating Shohei into the organization;</em></li>
<li><em>“Why the city and franchise are a desirable place to play;</em></li>
<li><em>“Relevant marketplace characteristics.”</em></li>
</ol>
<p><i>If we were writing the letter from the Blue Jays&#8217; organization, this is what it would look like: </i></p>
<p>Dear Shohei,</p>
<p>We have been watching you play for the Nippon Ham Fighters for the past two years, sending a rotating group of 8-10 scouts and executives over to Japan to view your 26 starts during that time period. Over the course of our time watching you, we have fallen in love with your seemingly endless talent. Our scouts have said they have never seen anything like you on the diamond and that if you were a free agent on the open market, we&#8217;d feel comfortable giving you a contract matching the likes of Giancarlo Stanton &#8211; You&#8217;re worth it.</p>
<p>Since overhauling our front office after the 2015 season, we have made a concerted effort to change how our organization handles player development and the off-field ways we can improve player performance. We have a dedicated staff that includes sports psychologists, nutritionists, and High Performance personnel, focused on squeezing every drop of talent out of our players and helping them take full advantage of their capabilities. Our medical staff is collecting new data every day to study how our players breakdown and recover and we believe that full integration and streamlining of our services will allow us to service our player&#8217;s health much better going forward, ensuring everybody stays on the field playing at the top of their game for as long as possible.</p>
<p>In the 2016 amateur draft, one of our current top prospects told other teams not to draft him, for he would not sign with them, as he, Bo Bichette, was only interested in playing for the Blue Jays. When asked why, he said it was because the Blue Jays would allow him to be himself &#8211; without forcing him to change his quirky swing &#8211; and our player development philosophy was the best he could see in the league.</p>
<p>Our facilities in Toronto are as good as they get across baseball. Our clubhouse is spacious, our training facilities have recently been upgraded or are in the process of being renovated to feature everything our high performance department requests, and our artificial turf playing surface at the Rogers Centre will allow you to play your home games on the same surface you are used to playing on at the Sapporo Domo in Hokkaido.</p>
<p>Our minor league facilities are also top-notch, though because you will be coming straight to Toronto to play with the big league club, they are not as much as a concern. What will matter to you is our facilities in Dunedin, Florida, our Spring Training home since our inception. We have just entered an agreement with the City of Dunedin to renovate both of our properties in the city, which will be ready for the Spring of 2019. We are planning to make our Dunedin complex a year-round base for our club, and thus we will be designing and renovating the buildings to fit with all the newest technological advances in baseball conditioning and training as our high performance department requests. We feel you are a franchise talent and will be with us for many years to come, and thus if you would like anything particular in our new Spring Training home, you are invited to request we add it to our renovation plans.</p>
<p>When it comes to your cultural assimilation, there is no organization better positioned to help you than the Blue Jays. Toronto is a diverse, cultural mosaic, composed of many different groups that come together to help each other live the best lives possible. The Japanese community in Toronto is rich and flourishing, with more than 20,000 Japanese-Canadians living in Toronto as of 2010. One of our fanbases&#8217; most beloved icons is Munenori Kawasaki, who had a child in Toronto during his time with the club and will forever be in our Canadian hearts. If you haven&#8217;t yet spoken to him about his time in Toronto, we strongly suggest you reach out to him &#8211; He will only have words of praise for our city and franchise.</p>
<p>As for how you&#8217;d fit on the roster, at the current moment we could use help at the front of the rotation and in the corner outfield spots and believe you are the perfect talent to help us get back to the playoffs like we did in 2015 and 2016. If you sign here, we will give you the Opening Day start as our ace, and will work with you to develop a healthy plan that allows you to play as a batter, both in the field and as a designated hitter, on days which you are not starting on the mound. We believe you have the talent to become the first successful two-way player in America in a very long time and we are committed to seeing your dream become a reality.</p>
<p>The city is also a cultural beacon, with night life that is unrivaled in North America, featuring great restaurants, bars, museums, theaters, sporting events, and parks. You will feel right at home with us, and will never lack for an activity in one of the world&#8217;s most vibrant cities. However, the greatest thing about playing for the Blue Jays is that you are not just playing for a city, but as all of our alumni can attest to, you are playing for an entire country. All of Canada will have your back when you get on the mound and you step into the batter&#8217;s box. In 2016 and 2017 we led the American League in attendance and all of baseball in TV viewership, averaging over 900,000 and 700,000 viewers per game respectively, and your arrival will only further fan interest in the team. Toronto loves baseball when the product is enjoyable and you will be the most important figure in the city for six to seven months a year if you join our organization.</p>
<p>As a foreigner coming to a new country, we cannot promise there will not be challenges. There always are when it comes to moving across the world to start a new job with new faces and new people, but we will provide help for you in every way imaginable to make your transition as smooth as possible. We want the best for you and feel that Toronto, and Canada, is the place where you will be able to have the brightest baseball career in the future and the happiest life when you&#8217;re not playing baseball. You will have every available option you could possibly want, and we will work tirelessly to make sure you are happy.</p>
<p>Lastly, Donald Trump is President of the United States of America, but we are based in Canada.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club</p>
<p><em>Lead photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/prayitnophotography/8216501686/in/photolist-dw4HGb-ywqQc2-xKE9tG-6fTwHf-eifFLG-sNPNaX-gfWQ2x-XpvCe8-cW4vj7-fbjw6K-9sM6f2-oBoiiP-PYqu8-yHrg8M-xN3BEp-LCMrmt-77D7RU-FdB7Bo-7597Rk-MWWNo2-UQgKtc-UvK8x5-vb6k6C-rvJtfH-XHxB6t-aNXcwt-oBE4mT-QPnioT-ahDF4o-rNbsE8-j1Wt4b-86st4N-WfsK8N-8pVwEf-AM2bRv-6M7qMD-o19rUb-LCMqN4-bmn6HE-tvYtF2-u5pukn-eqwPhF-7pZJk8-gvJWe6-SnwsFF-QZZG25-wHE7E9-8ThP4w-PuRw2T-Dfie3a" target="_blank">Prayitno</a> </em><em>and licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>.</em></p>
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		<title>Ross Atkins’ Hands are Tied by Shohei Ohtani</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/11/23/ross-atkins-hands-are-tied-by-shohei-ohtani/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/11/23/ross-atkins-hands-are-tied-by-shohei-ohtani/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Nov 2017 11:39:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tammy Rainey]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Ohtani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Otani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=14305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to a last minute agreement between the NPB and the MLBPA, reports are now out there that Shohei Ohtani will finally be posted on Dec 2. This will come as a considerable relief to all the teams who consider themselves candidates to sign him, not least among them the Toronto Blue Jays. In fact, [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to a last minute agreement between the NPB and the MLBPA, reports are now out there that Shohei Ohtani will finally be posted on Dec 2. This will come as a considerable relief to all the teams who consider themselves candidates to sign him, not least among them the Toronto Blue Jays.</p>
<p>In fact, probably the single biggest factor in Toronto&#8217;s offseason plans is whether or not they can sign Ohtani, not just because he&#8217;s a generational talent but because of the implications he brings for further roster construction. This is compounded by the fact that they are a team with a legitimate clear path to offering what he seems to want most: a chance to be a legitimate two-way player.</p>
<p>Certainly, this is true of teams other than Toronto. This is a big reason why off-season player movement has been almost unprecedentedly slow this year. And while one would not necessarily expect it to be a problem for all teams, it&#8217;s absolutely a problem that goes beyond the teams who legitimately are in play for Ohtani.</p>
<p>Let me illustrate. As far as we know, Baltimore doesn&#8217;t give any indication of being in tough on Ohtani, but they have spawned some rumors that they covet some of the more desirable free agent starting pitchers. Let&#8217;s take Lance Lynn for example.</p>
<p>From Baltimore&#8217;s point of view, the play would be &#8220;while the other monied teams are looking at japan, let&#8217;s swoop in and grab Lance Lynn&#8221; but the problem with that is that Lynn&#8217;s agent is certainly telling him &#8220;be patient, only one team can sign Ohtani and a lot of those failed suitors will check in on you after he signs.&#8221; Thus, the O&#8217;s are blocked from making the big move that might be the linchpin of their offseason as well. Even teams not specifically looking for a SP or OF as their primary acquisition may well be hedging their use of available finances against those sub-markets. Likewise players at other positions may be waiting to entertain the idea of signing until they see how Ohtani contenders shift their plans in the wake of not signing him.</p>
<p>Because of this concern, it limits any potential moves in the mean time. Let&#8217;s explore why for a moment. The Blue Jays, by consensus, have three primary needs and two secondary needs to fill. They would like to add an impact SP (Ross Atkins has said &#8220;an impact pitcher either as a starter or in the bullpen&#8221; but let&#8217;s be real, your major impact is going to come in the rotation) both as an upgrade and not a little bit because they cannot be fully confident Aaron Sanchez will be back to his 2016 health. They absolutely must add an above average (at least) outfielder, preferably in a corner. They also really need a productive player as a reserve capable of stepping in at SS or 2B without hurting the team. Beyond that, if the dollars allow, a better reserve catcher and some veteran depth in the bullpen are concerns.</p>
<p>In regards to the opening for a starting pitcher, the potential availability of Ohtani freezes any impact move. If you add him, there&#8217;s no obvious role for any other high profile FA you might be thinking of. You can neither spend crazy money on Yu Darvish or try and score an upside play like Tyler Chatwood if you can&#8217;t offer them a regular turn in the rotation. Literally the minute Ohtani signs with anyone, GMs across the league will be blowing up the phones of the agents representing their preferred option. But for now, everyone waits (unless they recognize themselves to not be a player for Ohtani in any case).</p>
<p>Similarly, the Jays can&#8217;t make a serious move for corner outfielder without considering Ohtani. While it&#8217;s not a complete blockade &#8211; the acquired OF could always move to the other corner, but the situation does pose a consideration in terms of allocation of resources. Would Toronto, or any team, be as anxious to add &#8211; for example &#8211; Andrew McCutchen at a cost of prospects and over $14 million if they have already added a bat like Ohtani&#8217;s to their team. To be clear, I certainly would, and I&#8217;m inclined to think that the Jays would. But I&#8217;m not at all sure that they would do so BEFORE knowing whether Ohtani is on their roster.</p>
<p>The other positions are not as directly impacted, but the major impact is money. To return to the McCutchen example: the money he makes comes off the top of their available budget for off-season acquisitions so whether or not you could, again for example, go offer Eduardo Nunez, his likely eight million dollars a year is tied to whether or not you&#8217;ve spent that money in the outfield &#8211; money you are much more likely to have spent if Ohtani didn&#8217;t sign with the team.</p>
<p>The same basic principle applies with the catcher need and the potential for adding relievers. The team can field a good bullpen with current personnel, but in a situation where you are going for it, more depth can only help. There are opportunities to add a lefty (the bigger need) and a right-handed veteran and in so doing push kids like Ramirez, Dermody, and Mayza back to Buffalo for crucial depth. There is solid depth in the relief market and the Jays probably wouldn&#8217;t act early in any case, but if they did have a particular target they wanted to scoop the market on, then again they&#8217;d have to make a calculation on the price point depending on the aforementioned implications.</p>
<p>SImply put, the entire team budget situation changes by getting an impact player like Ohtani for the league mimimum.</p>
<p>I should also acknowledge the possibility that I&#8217;m being too optimistic here. While the Jays management has been nothing but consistent in asserting that they are fully committed to contending in 2018, it&#8217;s not completely impossible that this is an example of messaging which is relevant to luring Ohtani. There&#8217;s a non-zero possibility that if/when he signs elsewhere, the front office re-evaluates the opportunity cost of making that run and decides that the long term interests of the club are better served by some strategic subtraction rather than ramping up.</p>
<p>In any case, now that the Ohtani Sweepstakes has a certain date, those of us trying to get warm by the hot stove can start to feel the heat in earnest.</p>
<p><i>Lead Photo © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</i></p>
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		<title>Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 75: Japandering to the Crowd</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/09/21/artificial-turf-wars-ep-75-japandering-to-the-crowd/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Sep 2017 09:55:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Artifical Turf Wars]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=13515</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Episode 75 Sung Min Kim of Sporting News stops by talk Shohei Otani and what we could be in the big leagues, the posting systems in Japan and Korea, and other potential stars we could see being posted over the next couple of years. Greg and Josh also discuss the Marco Estrada extension, Jose Bautista&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/turfpod"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-9098" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/patreon_logo-300x94.png" alt="patreon_logo" width="252" height="79" /></a><br />
<strong><br />
Episode 75</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/sung_minkim" target="_blank">Sung Min Kim</a> of Sporting News stops by talk Shohei Otani and what we could be in the big leagues, the posting systems in Japan and Korea, and other potential stars we could see being posted over the next couple of years. Greg and Josh also discuss the Marco Estrada extension, Jose Bautista&#8217;s farewell tour, Roberto Osuna&#8217;s increased velocity, faces of the franchise, and a truly 2017 Toronto Blue Jays moment. Finally, they answer listener questions and give out Do Overs to Mark Shapiro and Matt Dermody.</p>
<p><strong>Podcast</strong>: <a class="powerpress_link_pinw" title="Play in New Window" href="http://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/028/show_10285395_2017_09_21_04_56_11.mp3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Play in new window</a> | <a class="powerpress_link_d" title="Download" href="http://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/028/show_10285395_2017_09_21_04_56_11.mp3" rel="nofollow">Download</a></p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/blue-jays-plus-podcast/id705699884?mt=2"><img class="alignnone wp-image-63" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/03/itunes1.png" alt="itunes" width="168" height="62" /></a><a href="https://soundcloud.com/turfpod"><img class=" wp-image-9054 alignleft" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/soundcloud.jpg" alt="soundcloud" width="123" height="60" /></a></p>
<p>Follow the guys on twitter: <a title="@coolhead2010" href="https://twitter.com/coolhead2010" target="_blank">@coolhead2010</a> and <a title="@JoshuaHowsam" href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaHowsam" target="_blank">@JoshuaHowsam</a>.</p>
<p>Intro music is Slow Burn (<a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/" rel="cc:attributionURL">Kevin MacLeod</a>) under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="license">CC BY 3.0</a>.</p>
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		<title>How the Blue Jays View Shohei Otani</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/09/13/how-the-blue-jays-view-shohei-otani/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/09/13/how-the-blue-jays-view-shohei-otani/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Sep 2017 14:33:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark shapiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ross atkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shohei Otani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=13414</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Japanese sensation Shohei Otani seems to have finalized his decision to come to North America this winter and make the transition from Japanese baseball to MLB according to reports in Japan. Otani is only 23-years-old and is famed for his ability to hit and pitch extremely well. The Blue Jays are definitely interested in Otani, as a source within [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Japanese sensation Shohei Otani seems to have finalized his decision to come to North America this winter and make the transition from Japanese baseball to MLB <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/09/reports-from-japan-suggest-shohei-otani-will-request-to-be-posted.html" target="_blank">according to reports</a> in Japan. Otani is only 23-years-old and is famed for his ability to hit and pitch extremely well. The Blue Jays are definitely interested in Otani, as a source within the club told me that eight to ten members of the Blue Jays Front Office and scouting staff have been to Japan to watch the young phenom. So, how do the Blue Jays view Otani, and is it possible that they could land him this winter?</p>
<p>The source made it clear that the Blue Jays are interested in him beyond due diligence, evidenced by the fact that &#8220;it is not cheap&#8221; to send 8-10 members of the organization over to Japan to scout somebody. The source continued by saying that the Blue Jays will be involved in contract talks with Otani, &#8220;unless the money gets really crazy&#8221;, adding that if allowed, he would &#8220;give [Otani] the Stanton contract for sure and sleep at night.&#8221; That&#8217;s very high praise.</p>
<p>Despite this not seeming like something that is Mark Shapiro&#8217;s style, &#8220;this guy is the one who is unique&#8221; said the source, continuing with &#8220;most of us have never seen anything like him at his age&#8221;.</p>
<p>One flaw in this might be that the Blue Jays have already used some of their bonus money, and thus won&#8217;t be able to offer Otani as much as other clubs. However, the source said that when it comes to Otani, he gets the feeling that it is &#8220;about fit and future money,&#8221; and speculates that any contract the star player signs in MLB will have a handshake agreement on a long term deal once he has played for some time in North America.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays&#8217; main point of contact in Japan is Dan Evans, who the source says &#8220;has an outstanding relationship he has cultivated with the GM and President of Nippon [Ham],&#8221; the team Otani plays for currently in the NPB. Evans &#8220;has a lot of weight [in Japan], and has been working on this for at least four years,&#8221; according to the source with the Blue Jays. &#8220;[Evans] wants him badly,&#8221; he continued.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays are also in the midst of expanding their presence in Asia under their new Front Office. They are &#8220;indentifying and developing relationships now with the Japanese clubs for the future,&#8221; creating much more of a &#8220;process in Asia&#8221; than what existed under Paul Beeston and Alex Anthopoulos.</p>
<p>The source&#8217;s report also says that Otani&#8217;s tools are all &#8220;near the top of the scale, to go along with the maturity of a 35-year-old&#8221; despite being only 23 years of age. He was also said to have &#8220;the humility of the 25th man on the bench&#8221; and be &#8220;a manager&#8217;s dream.&#8221; The club believes he is a &#8220;likely Ace and an All-Star 30/30 RF type&#8221; who would likely DH in MLB, though the source believes Otani wants to go somewhere he can play in the outfield from time to time.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays will likely have a couple of openings in their outfield this winter, especially in right field, so that could come into play.</p>
<p>In my view, the Blue Jays landing Otani seems like a big reach, but it&#8217;s exciting nonetheless to see how involved they are in the process and the strides they are making in Asia as a whole for the future.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Dan Hamilton &#8211; USA Today Sports</em></p>
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