Terminator

Yeah you aren't getting the best athlete on the planet to fly to Dunedin, FL unless he's dead serious about signing with you.

Is it a big deal that he flew to Florida to check out our player development complex after meeting with teams this past weekend in LA? Uhh yeah I’d say that’s a pretty damn big deal lol

We could literally be on the verge of signing the greatest player since Babe Ruth you guys. A Passan tweet could drop any minute now.

Is it me or is Ross exhibiting some very interesting body language in that presser? It almost seems to me like he's got some very exciting news to share but he can't yet but will do so soon. Is anyone else picking up similar vibes???

Ross is in LA dotting the I's and crossing the T's.

The chicken sandwich is good. They have a spicy one too and they are new. It's not going to blow your mind but I bet you take a bite and your reaction will be, "Hmm, not bad actually." Which describes McDonald's in general.

Wendy's is good, I agree. The Spicy Chicken sandwich is good and was the best one for a long time. McDonald's has revamped theirs during this whole chicken wars thing and it's actually not bad either.

Ok good, one good in-person look at the dimensions of that park and he'll cross the Giants off the list. I doubt the Braves can pony up the cash for him but given their current status he would probably at least listen to what they have to say.

Pack your bags, Alek. You might wanna start working on that beach bod while you are at it.

I'd probably go with "wet blanket" lol

Well if this is the case then please explain to me how the Padres are being run without the bottom line being so important? They are trading one of the top 5 players in baseball in order to cut payroll. Seems like the bottomline bit them in the ass just ONE YEAR later. But you can't admit it because then you'd have to take an L. So instead you are trying to hold the position that the small market Padres spending so much is GOOD (even though there are obvious and immediate consequences). But if the Jays, a bigger market with wealthier owners, sign Ohtani somehow that is BAD. Because of reasons that make no sense. I'd probably just take the L but if you want to try and warp some sort of bizarre reasoning around this garbage logic you can try but no one will buy it.

*ATTACK MODE ACTIVATED* I love how you've been banging on the "Jays need a star player" drum all year and now that we are finalists for Ohtani (the biggest star in baseball since Babe Ruth) you give a qualified "I'd love to have him BUT he's 30 years old and it's a lot of money..." lol

Lol you've been getting high on the small market Padres for the entire past year for doling out 13 year deals. Even when the very next season they now have to cut payroll and trade one of the best players in baseball. Great moves in your opinion. Jays try to sign Ohtani and NOW you have concern about these deals? This is either a subtle troll attempt or one of the dumbest takes I've seen on here in a while.

Never heard of her

Yeah I'm worried about that too. They've done TV overlays before and then when Wagner did come back they wouldn't even let him travel on the road. Really, how much can it cost to send a radio team out there? A couple mil? Just pony up and get a good team out there.

Yeah it's possible and in general it's hard to see the Jays outbidding the Dodgers but I think Ohtani helps the Jays franchise more than he does the Dodgers, and that could lead us to putting up a bigger bid. Think of it this way, Ohtani doesn't really transform the Dodgers organization. He cranks things up to another level perhaps, but it isn't transforming their organization. They are still one of the top orgs with or without him. Ohtani coming to the Jays just completely changes things for this franchise. Honestly, it probably changes things for the country a little bit as crazy as that sounds. I think everyone could be pretty damn proud that the biggest free agent in sports history chose to play in Canada. So the transformative value that he brings to the Jays could give us the extra juice it needs to throw a gargantuan number at him that even the Dodgers won't match. Now I'm not saying this to suggest we have even a 30% chance. It's probably like 10 if I had to guess. But if we do get him I think this is why/how it happens.

Yeah definitely see similarities. But the Dice-K situation seemed like pure fan speculation that got out of hand. The Yu Darvish saga seemed a little bit more real but also was hard to believe because the franchise just wasn't a big spender back in 2011. This Ohtani situation feels different because we are now big spenders and it appears that we are a finalist. The gorilla in the room is the Dodgers of course but (1) it's possible we could get crazy and outbid them and (2) we don't know what he is looking for exactly. If we make a pitch about keeping him healthy on the mound for a long time and he likes that maybe he could choose us. Last time it seemed like virtually every single team in the league was interested in him and he chose the Angels of all teams. So yeah, LAD remains the heavy favorites but it definitely seems like we are in the running as much as anyone else and that we do have a legit shot to land him.

**UPDATE** Ok folks my sources are telling me that Drake has officially been given the BOOT. He is no longer a part of the negotiating team. I'm told that Geddy and others haven't been thrilled with Drake's efforts (earlier this week in the team meeting he asked if Ohtani's career batting average was high enough much to the disgust of everyone in attendance). We are trying to sign the second coming of Babe Ruth and he's still dicking around with that mediocre basketball team so he's OUT. The final straw was when Geddy brought up how Drake fumbled the courting of Kawhi and that he was "going to %&@# this up too" and they damn near got into a fistfight. At that point Geddy point blank told Ed Rogers that it's either him or Drake and the answer was easy. We are keeping the great Geddy Lee and Drake can take a hike. The last minute shakeup obviously isn't ideal but the word is that Ohtani doesn't even know who Drake is so I don't think it will hurt our chances that much. The negotiating team is scheduled to meet with Ohtani in LA this weekend. I will keep you all posted.

That makes more sense from the Brewer's perspective then.

Good points. Great deal for him. He's setting a record for a player his age and gets to hit FA again in his prime. If he ends up not panning out he's still got generational money.

Yeah I don't care if we win 70 games a year in the last 5 years of his contract and he's putting up 1 to 2 WAR. Ohtani going into the HoF with a Jays cap on would be the greatest thing this franchise has experienced since the back to back WS. And he's pretty damn good so hopefully he adds a trophy or two as well.

If you move him to RP you wouldn't get the WAR out of him that you would as a starter. But if he was a lights out late inning guy you could get plenty of WPA out of him.

Yeah I think OF/RP would be an intriguing option as well. Might as well throw 1B in the mix too.