Toronto wanted Shohei Ohtani. It got Shark Tank instead | About That

Blue Jays fans had their dreams dashed after learning free agent Shohei Ohtani signed a historic $700-million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Andrew Chang gives a moment-by-moment breakdown of the mad speculation and confusion that led up to Toronto’s disappointment, and how a judge on Shark Tank and Dragons' Den found himself in the middle of it all.
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[@CityLadyLA]

Shohei has wanted to be a Dodger since he was a child. We all love Cali sunshine! 💙

[@camionerosfurgoneros5915]

Thank you HIDEO NOMO fir breaking another barrier❤

[@Sam19509]

It is like Kawhi’s free agency all over again. Toronto was left holding an empty bag.😂😂

[@ironmaiden4746]

He never wanted to leave its plain to see

[@valley_walker8288]

Canadian people should be more proud that the Blue Jays stayed as one of the final few teams among the candidates for Ohtani. He flew all the way to Florida to see BJ's new training center before this unfortunate incident. If Ohtani's main interest had been money, he would have flown to NY to meet with Met's billionaire owner who was openly saying he'd pay a hefty amount of money for Ohtani. But he didn't. When he saw Dodger's mgmt after the Florida visit, Shohei asked about the Dodger's Farm system and their policy for the training there. I read in an article that the Dodgers farm system was ranked higher than BJ's in a third-party analysis. The myriad of factors affected his final decision.

[@jaipaulsethi6880]

this is like saying you should be proud because the hot chick you wanted to go with prom with didn't say 'no' but by no means ended up going with you 🤣

[@valley_walker8288]

@@jaipaulsethi6880 You are funny 🤣🤣

[@jaipaulsethi6880]

thanks @@valley_walker8288 🤣

[@dankool688]

The man wanted multiple WS, after all he is the best of all times....

[@jjkerning3293]

Too cold in Toronto. Sho knows.

[@teresas8173]

He’s used to cold winters where he from in Japan

[@DunDun-Oh]

Robert in shock or is it all planned? Can’t wait for next season of shark tank or dragon’s den if he still guest appear on the later

[@tbprofile1295]

Did Herjavec plan this out and 'leak' that Shohei was on the plane, just to get the paparazzi and a little attention on him when he landed? 😂😂

[@Aces77777]

No it was a rumor

[@Dodgers-sw2uk]

Absolutely not, but I’m interested to know who his agent is and if he doesn’t have one then if he is following anyone affiliated with that agency

[@mcsweetish]

It's really interesting how when Ohtani's supposed flight was landing in TO, Dodgers shut down their stadium to meet with Ohtani...hmmmmm

[@APGL-pg7kp]

The guy wanted to win and he picked the best team to win with. Nothing wrong with that

[@Jaspberryram12]

Toronto is a warm-up team holding patern before going to rich team

[@benvad9010]

Why would he want to leave?

[@Sam19509]

Ohtani was coming to Toronto he changed his mind after he heard Yonge and Dundas Square was being renamed to Sankofa Square.😂😂

[@lordy1952]

Twitter for you right there

[@NathanAtkinson590]

Kawhi repeat.

[@reno-san87]

This will go down as the biggest finesse in MLB history since the Padres announced the Scherzer signing 🤣

[@andg5194]

2019 Kawhi 2023 Ohtani 🤣 Can we just accept that big names don't sign with Canadian teams?

[@filipinokiller]

toronto had a decent chance to keep Kawhi but chose not to make trades to keep him, they never had a chance with Shohei.

[@andg5194]

@@filipinokiller true... but hey, considering Kawhi has been injured for every year after, we dodged a bullet 🤣

[@alfiey5783]

I cant think of a big name ever signing with the raptors…. Jarret jack? Hedo Turkolglu….? 😅

[@Schweini_1983]

Jp Hoornstra never apologized

[@Tai_Wu]

The obsession is ridiculous.

[@Ainlore]

and how much blow with the new deferrals news ??

[@rabbitazteca23]

lmaooo

[@janssengojar1863]

DAMN i never heard anything like these before..they're even speculate him traveling to Toronto by a prvate jet & even monitor him.......I mean seriouly?

[@craigthir6578]

When you repeat a lie often enough it doesn't become true, it becomes journalism.

[@ewcamaewcama]

He was never going to the Jays! It was leverage!

[@DW-op7ly]

That narrative works If he wasn’t trying to defer 100% of his salary

[@818jessejames]

Magic Johnson made the deal happen 💰💰💰👍

[@Italonino]

He sort of did, LA can be a 24 hr party. Anaheim is a bedroom community.

[@billymaltez8030]

Technically i still think more ppl should break dwn these contract comparisons between sports differently. Injuries/playoffs aside, Mahomes for example will play 16 games a year, and 160 games over those 10 years and will make 450 million. Thats roughly a crazy 2.8 million per game. In 10 years and lets say 160 games a season, while also pitching aswell in some games, Ohtani will play 1,600 games (not factoring injuries,days off etc). That comes to an average of roughly 440k per game. Football is obv a more physical sport but the way a qb gets protected nowadays, i think its more straining for a hard throwing pitcher and his arm as Ohtani obv is when he pitches. Also the Nfl season is much much shorter compared to mlb which starts spring training in March and can reach into November almost. Breaking it down, and simply as a sports contract, i still think Mahomes has and will for a long time have the best sports contract ever

[@valley_walker8288]

Good analysis! People don't like math to see facts in depth. On a different post, someone said Messi earns more on an annual income basis.

[@murrethmedia]

Jays fans thinking we had a shot at getting Ohtani just make me laugh. Why would he go from one perpetually underachieving loser franchise to another? He wanted to win.

[@Jay-ef2ii]

Ohtani will come to Toronto Canada once he is 43 years of age. January 5, 2024. USA

[@Rayfinkle5970]

Ohtani wanted to stay in LA to be close to home of japan

[@user-rh2tq1xe1i]

"Shohei believes privacy is important and would get it in Toronto" City contradicts itself as it stalks a flight, not a good start to privacy

[@dodgerrichgee]

Well done story! Go Dodgers!

[@AbeNomiks]

Canada would not be able to handle him

[@seekthao]

😂🤣🤣🤭🤭🤣🤣😆

[@Slayer-yo6pb]

ドジャーズのあとはチュニドラだよ。トロントにはあげない

[@lacoleccionperfecto]

I apologize for Canadian Butthurt - Ohtani 2023

[@jayshahu]

He looked at what is happening in Canada he decided to stay in LA . Trudeau did a sales pitch and that was the final straw. Lol

[@JamesBond77]

Exactly. He saw all the woke weirdo leading Canada to destruction and he said NO !🤣

[@Sam19509]

That clown Poilievre will blame Trudeau for this.😂😂 I am pretty sure a future potential PM promoting that the country is broken was a nice selling point for Ohtani.😂😂

[@hkchipper]

Kikuchi is just an odd case of a second-tier player needing a job; he could have stayed in the West Coast as well as Ohtani.

[@ZKZ123]

Gtfo! He was never coming to Toronto to begin with. LA with the market, time zone relative to japan, and Dodgers being the best chance for him to WIN a World Series. C’mon Canada get over yourselves! 😂😂

[@filipinokiller]

toronto is all about wishful thinking

[@tushan1013]

I mean just like with Kawai, nobody wants to come and STAY in Toronto. It’s considered a north side bumville compared to the rich end of California. Why would anyone want to come to Toronto when you can be on the West Coast? I think most Toronto fans will need to come to terms that most superstar level talent (unless you in hockey) will probably look to the West coast for team options…. It’s proven time and time again that people don’t want to stay in Toronto for the long term.

[@jhamara647]

Why would you reference Sharks Tank in the title, when CBC is literally airing Dragon's Den?! This is what drives me crazy about CBC. It's very raison d'être is to offset the influence of American media, and yet it does absolutely nothing to build any sense of cultural identity through our own cultural references. There are so many examples: the second line of the first epeiosde Macy Murdoch makes reference to the Super Bowl - a league that doesn't even have a single team in Canada, in the first ten minutes of Sort Of a character is mocked for not knowing the reputation of JLo - an American musical artist - I'm pretty sure that whole show could have been set in Cleveland and not a single line would have to have been altered, even Schmitt's Creek is ambiguous about whether it's set in Canada or the US - denying the show any ability to make Canadian cultural references. I want to love the CBC so badly but if all that it is is a reflection of US cultural, then what's the point?

[@kknn523]

Canada is hardly a country. The Canadian government just wants control over their citizenry. It's barely not North Korea. That's why they don't promote anything that would develop culture and individual excellence.

[@DunDun-Oh]

Robert in shock or is it planned? Can’t wait for him to get roasted in the new seasons of both shows.

[@luismiguelmayo]

I feel so sorry Canadians. I was recently pushing Blue Jays cuz the team is vigorous and close to PO but...

[@sori6524]

😂

[@tbprofile1295]

Did Kevin O'Leary loan money to Herjavec for the private plane? 🤔

[@burmesepython393]

If the Raptors and Jays struggle to attract high quality free agents, then maybe it’s time to look at the long term viability of the Raptors and Jays in Toronto. Free agency moves up your title aspirations significantly, and if players consistently cite taxes and cold weather (both of which are legitimate issues and are not going away) as reasons for not coming here then move the teams south and be done with it. A championship by either team is simply catching lightning in a bottle.

[@jaad9848]

You are basing this "struggle" on not signing Ohtani. Every single team would have liked to sign Ohtani just so happens only 1 can actually do it.

[@burmesepython393]

@@jaad9848 Then can you name a top 20 player in his prime who ever signed with either team? Take as much time as you need.

[@Sam19509]

@@burmesepython393lol Toronto just won an nba title in 2019. There are definitely nba teams like ones based in Oklahoma City and New Orleans that are a lot less desirable than Toronto and Canada. Yes Athletes pay higher taxes in Canada but if they are actually good they can easily make up the difference with endorsements. Kawhi Leonard won titles with San Antonio and Toronto was offered the biggest max contracts either franchise could offer him and he still chose LA more likely for personal than professional reasons. His sister got arrested for murder after he was already playing for the Clippers and he has had his least playoff success in his career with his third team. And he is always injured way more than he ever was with Raptors or Spurs aside from the period with Spurs he sat out before he was traded.😂

[@JamesBond77]

Toronto never stood a chance. Ohtani saw CBC propaganda and said NO ! 🤣

[@Mr1stcat]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 GO DODGERS 💙 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@James-nv1wf]

Can't believe MLB has no salary cap. Might as well just buy the championship and call it a day.

[@JamesBond77]

I can’t believe the CBC still exists.

[@James-nv1wf]

@@JohnnySnotzema So many teams couldn't even afford him, how is that fair?

[@Ainlore]

kwahi n now ohtani ........

[@alfredmajor428]

Ohtani tax cheat failed to pay fare share

[@superdave8320]

Toronto is lucky not to win this lottery. All money is loaded after the 10 years. He is getting paid 2million per year. After year 10 he moves to florida and retires also will be taxed at a real low tax rate. In year 11 Dodgers are screwed.

[@DW-op7ly]

The speculation is Ohtani will convert that deferred money into Dodgers ownership shares Plus Dodgers are expected to make 50 million a year in marketing fees off of Ohtani