The Los Angeles Dodgers may have just hurt their chances of winning the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes by failing to keep simple details to themselves.
It was been widely reported by multiple insiders (most recently Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic), that Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, want teams to keep details on the two-way superstar private.
On Monday evening, Rosenthal wrote, “His free agency remains shrouded in secrecy, and officials with interested teams say his agent, Nez Balelo, has warned them that leaking any details of the process would be held against them.”
Well, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts failed to obey Ohtani’s one simple request. Per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, Roberts confirmed to reporters that the club recently met with the two-time AL MVP at Dodger Stadium.
Interestingly, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes admitted he was surprised that Roberts publicly leaked details of the meeting with Ohtani, per Ardaya:
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Ultimately, it’s hard to believe that the Dodgers truly cost themselves the chance at landing the generational talent if they are indeed his top choice. With their financial resources, geographic location and status as a perennial World Series contender, the Dodgers still feel like the overwhelming favorites to land Ohtani.
It has been widely reported that Ohtani loves the southern California market. The Dodgers have made the postseason ever year since 2013, too, winning three NL pennants and one World Series (2020) in that span.
Multiple reports have indicated that the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs ad San Francisco Giants are also in the Ohtani sweepstakes. Rosenthal reported on Monday it’s believed that the Jays met with Ohtani on Monday.
