Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke Wednesday about the possibility of pursuing Ohtani and here’s what he had to say:
“I don’t think there’s a downside in looking into it. I think the only downside is creating a false set of expectations on the part of fans which I think have to be tempered,” Alderson said. “This guy could go to any one of 30 teams, almost everybody has to be somewhat interested.
“There’s still a lot to be learned to be in his situation and how it potentially will unfold. But to sit here today and say ‘no, we’re not interested,’ would be foolish.”
As of right now, there are nine times ahead of the Mets with IFA bonus pool money. They would have to make a trade or two to get some more cash if they are serious about pursuing him.
Original report: Nov. 15, 10:38 p.m.
The Mets may be apart of the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes according to Marc Carig and David Lennon of Newsday.
Ohtani, 23, has been connected to MLB for some time now, but hasn’t made his way to the United States yet due to the matter of the posting fee his current club, the Nippon Hokkaido-Ham Fighters, would receive.
With new rules in place in regards to signing international players, Ohtani is more affordable now for the Mets than if the old rules were still in place. Under the old rules, international players would get much bigger contracts. Yu Darvish signed a six-year, $60 million contract with the Texas Rangers in 2012. Masahiro Tanaka signed an even bigger seven-year, $155 million contract with the New York Yankees in 2014.
Since Ohtani is under 25, he can’t be considered a full-fledged free agent and can only be offered what teams have in their international pool which can range from $300,000 to $3.5 million.
Currently the Mets do not have much available in their international pool so if they were to pursue him, they would need to make some trades to replenish that pool.
In their article, Carig and Lennon mentioned that sources say the Mets were among the teams who scouted Ohtani. Given the fact that he is a very low-risk, very high-reward type of player, most teams should be interested in his services.
Ohtani is considered Japan’s Babe Ruth as he is both an excellent pitcher and hitter. Perhaps Ohtani’s best season came in 2016 when he hit .322/.416/.588/.1.004 with 65 runs scored, 22 home runs, and 67 RBI in 323 at-bats across 104 games played. At the same time he put up a 10-4 record, 1.86 ERA, 0.957 WHIP, and 174 strikeouts in 21 games (20 starts) and 140 innings pitched.
