Shohei Otani

[Can_of_corn]

28 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

How's it going, everyone?  Am I to assume that all threads about Shohei Otani are but wild speculation?  There's no way the O's are even on his radar, correct? 

I don't recall anyone being at all optimistic that the Orioles would sign him.

[SteveA]

38 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

How's it going, everyone?  Am I to assume that all threads about Shohei Otani are but wild speculation?  There's no way the O's are even on his radar, correct? 

He's narrowed his list to 7 teams, 5 on the west coast.

Since he can only be signed for international bonus pool money, which we have very little of, we were probably never in the running.   He sent a questionnaire to every MLB team asking about team philosophy, locale, why he should play for their team.

I think we can assume he has set some kind of floor on the bonus he will take, probably $2.5 million or so, because Anaheim and Seattle just traded decent prospects to the twins for $1 million in international signing pool money each, and both of them crossed that line.   Texas has the most to spend ($3.3 million or something like that) but the difference is probably great enough that he'll sign with whatever team he wants that is over his arbitrary limit, basing his choice on all the factors he is interested in.

All speculation, except the fact that the list is down to 5 west coast teams (all but Oakland) plus the Rangers and Cubs. 

[Malike]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

How's it going, everyone?  Am I to assume that all threads about Shohei Otani are but wild speculation?  There's no way the O's are even on his radar, correct? 

My memory isn't what it used to be, but I'm pretty positive that he has a short list of 7 teams and the only team on his list East of the Mississippi was Chicago. I could be wrong. Lets have another 50 pages of speculation, though. Makes the off-season which I find the least interesting time of the year somewhat entertaining.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

How's it going, everyone?  Am I to assume that all threads about Shohei Otani are but wild speculation?  There's no way the O's are even on his radar, correct? 

Drungo sighting!    Wher’ve you been — real life getting in the way?

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Angels got him.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Angels got him.

If he is as projected that gives them a very interesting core to build around.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

If he is as projected that gives them a very interesting core to build around.

Mariners and Angels definitely are making things interesting in the AL West.

Also, Angels will be in Baltimore June 29-July 1st (weekend series) if anyone is curious.

[MDK02]

So is he considered the #1 prospect in baseball?

[Yardball85]

3 minutes ago, MDK02 said:

So is he considered the #1 prospect in baseball?

Good for the LAA.  He'll be very fun to follow this year.

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, MDK02 said:

So is he considered the #1 prospect in baseball?

Yes, by a significant margin.  I posted a link to an article a couple days ago.

[Enjoy Terror]

I’m curious how they’ll work him into the Upton / Trout / Calhoun outfield. Maybe Pujols is going to see limited at bats at DH.

[Just Regular]

A substantial blow to the wildcard prospects of the AL's middle class.

[wildbillhiccup]

11 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

I’m curious how they’ll work him into the Upton / Trout / Calhoun outfield. Maybe Pujols is going to see limited at bats at DH.

Calhoun's awful. I'm sure he'l be the odd man out when Otani plays. 

[Tryptamine]

3 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Calhoun's awful. I'm sure he'l be the odd man out when Otani plays. 

3.7, 3.7, 3.9, 2.2fWAR over the last 4 years. How again is he awful?

[NCRaven]

26 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

I’m curious how they’ll work him into the Upton / Trout / Calhoun outfield. Maybe Pujols is going to see limited at bats at DH.

He'll share DH duties with Pujols.  Doubt he sees any significant time in the outfield.