How close were the Blue Jays to actually landing Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani’s decision to sign with the Dodgers for a record-breaking ten-year, $700M deal sent shockwaves around the sports world, though a particularly heavy dose of the impact settled in Toronto.  Blue Jays fans (and possibly the team itself ) spent much of Friday wondering if Ohtani had decided on the Jays as his next destination and a pair of now-debunked media reports only added to the fever of speculation.

The full story of the Jays’ pursuit of the two-way star might not be known for some time, yet in pure financial terms, it seems as though the club at least came close to the final asking price.  Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith hears from a source that the Blue Jays’ offer to Ohtani was “right there,” so it doesn’t appear as though the Dodgers’ $700M deal was too far removed from what the Jays (or potentially other suitors) put on the table.

Given how Ohtani’s contract is so far beyond the normal stratosphere for baseball contracts or sports contracts in general, it is fair to assume that teams’ approach also differed greatly from a normal free-agent courtship.  This was already apparent with the immense level of secrecy requested by Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, as every detail (true or exaggerated) that leaked out about Ohtani’s intentions was heavily scrutinized.

As Nicholson-Smith notes, there have already been conspiracy theories launched that Balelo and CAA used the Jays’ interest as a smokescreen to get the Dodgers to up their offer at the last minute since Los Angeles was Ohtani’s preferred choice all along.  Or, perhaps the simplest answer is true – the Blue Jays did enough to make themselves a genuine consideration in the two-time AL MVP’s mind, regardless of where the Dodgers may or may not have ranked for Ohtani heading into the offseason.

Learning that the Jays got within the ballpark of signing Ohtani probably doesn’t ease much or any of the sting for Toronto fans.  The fact that the Blue Jays were willing to spend perhaps upwards of $650M, $675M or whatever the final bid was also doesn’t necessarily mean that the team has that much to spend in general this offseason, considering the special nature of Ohtani’s on-field ability and starpower.

Still, the Jays haven’t been shy about spending over the last few seasons, and the team has also been linked to such major free agents as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Cody Bellinger, former Jay Matt Chapman and a host of other players on the free agent and trade markets.  GM Ross Atkins has typically looked to at least check in on just about every notable free agent of the last few years, so this broad strategy could help the Blue Jays make a quick pivot as they explore their backup plans.