Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani will not sign with the New York Yankees.
Sunday night, while speaking with reporters at a charity event, GM Brian Cashman confirmed Ohtani's camp has told them he will not sign with the Yankees.
Ohtani has told #yankees they won’t sign with them, Cashman says
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) December 3, 2017
Cashman said that Ohtani’s reps told him they were very impressed with team’s presentation, but no matter how good it was, the Yankees couldn’t make themselves West Coast or a smaller market.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) December 3, 2017
The Nippon Ham Fighters officially posted Ohtani on Friday, so the Yankees were ruled out very early in the process. His 21-day negotiating window expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 22, and if he wants to go to the West Coast and a smaller market team, there's no sense in wasting finite negotiating time with New York. Not surprisingly, the Red Sox and Twins are out as well.
Sources: #Twins also out on Ohtani, joining #RedSox, #Yankees. Strong belief, as others have noted, that he will wind up on west coast. #SFGiants, #Mariners in, per @JeffPassan.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 3, 2017
Also, not every small market West Coast team is a potential landing spot for Ohtani. The Athletics are out of the race.
Per source, #Athletics also out on Ohtani, so not every west-coast team is in mix.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 3, 2017
The Yankees had been considered the favorites to sign Ohtani because they have as much international bonus money ($3.5 million) to spend as any team, plus they have a very good young roster that looks poised to contend for a long-time. Ohtani could've joined their rotation and taken aim at Yankee Stadium's short porch as the DH between starts.
Because he is only 23, Ohtani is subject to the international hard cap, meaning teams can't simply blow him away with a contract offer. The Yankees (or Red Sox) are not able to use their financial might to change Ohtani's mind. They can't keep raising their offer until he says yes. That leveled the playing field and made Ohtani's personal preferences that much more important.
Ohtani is currently in the United States lining up face-to-face meeting with interested teams for this coming week. The Mariners, who are planning to pursue Ohtani aggressively, are getting an in-person meeting with Ohtani, ditto for the Giants.
Sources: Shohei Ohtani continues to narrow the field for his meetings next week. The New York Yankees are out. The San Francisco Giants are one of the finalists. The Seattle Mariners also are in.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 3, 2017
If Ohtani does truly prefer a smaller market West Coast team, it would seem to bode very well for the Mariners, who have a long history of acquiring Japanese-born players. It could also be good news for the Padres. They've been planning to pursue Ohtani aggressively but have largely been overlooked because they're rebuilding.
The 23-year-old Ohtani was arguably the best pitcher and hitter in Japan the last few seasons. Ankle and quad injuries hampered him throughout 2017, but when healthy in 2016, he hit .322/.416/.588 with 22 home runs in 382 plate appearances while throwing 140 innings with a 1.86 ERA and 174 strikeouts. He is expected to continue hitting and pitching in MLB.
