Photo via MLB.com
Across Major League Baseball the offseason is off to a bit of a slow start, at least partially because of one of the more unique and bizarre player situations in recent memory. Baseball’s economic situation usually leads to scenarios where the hottest free agents of any given winter are only a viable option for a small handful of teams, but Shohei Ohtani has been a fascinating exception to that rule.
A star pitcher who can also hit and play the outfield, Ohtani has the opportunity to be a generational talent both on and off the field for his new MLB team when he officially commits to make the transition from Japan in the coming weeks. Because he’s under 25 years old, however, the financial windfall he’ll receive for making that move is limited by MLB’s international spending rules. The team that signs Ohtani will pay a total of under $24 million and the lion’s share of that will actually go to the Nippon Ham Fighters, his former club.
Because Ohtani has the possibility to be so valuable but his price tag is so low, he was a viable option for every MLB team. As such, his posting process drew a fair amount of attention in front offices across baseball, and held it until he started eliminating teams over the weekend. The Brewers were one of the teams to find out they’ve been ruled out on Sunday night. Ohtani is believed to have a preference for some of the teams in smaller markets on the west coast.
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As former Mariners and Brewers front office executive Tony Blengino pointed out on the Effectively Wild podcast last week, however, the Brewers were in position to make a solid case that they should be the team to introduce Ohtani to baseball in the US. Ohtani’s representatives recently sent a seven-part questionnaire to MLB teams interested in signing their client, and the Brewers had good answers for several of the questions:
- Playing for a National League team would have afforded Ohtani opportunities to pinch hit and ease his way into attempting to be a two-way MLB player.
- Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson is well respected across the game and has some recent history helping pitchers reach their potential (see Zach Davies and Chase Anderson, for examples).
- The Brewers hold spring training in Arizona, where the travel and weather are both more amenable than Florida, and recently committed tens of millions of dollars to improve their Maryvale facility.
- The Brewers have some experience helping Japanese-born players adjust to life in Milwaukee and within the organization, having had both Takashi Saito and Norichika Aoki on their roster in recent years.
With all of that said, the Brewers and most other MLB organizations outside the Pacific time zone have been informed that they will have to move on. Thankfully, the market has not moved on without them: Every player on MLB Trade Rumors’ list of the winter’s top 50 free agents (including 13 honorable mentions) remains unsigned for 2018. This November was the quietest month for MLB transactions in over 25 years.
As such, it’s about time for the market to heat up. There should still be plenty of business left to conduct when David Stearns and his front office head to Orlando next week for MLB’s annual Winter Meetings, where they’re likely to continue the search for pitching help among other priorities.
As of Monday morning just 72 days remain before pitchers and catchers are expected to report to Maryvale Baseball Park to start preparations for the 2018 season. The Brewers still have some work to do over that time to fill some of that facility’s vacant lockers.
