Roberts Shares Behind-the-Scenes Details of Dodgers’ Meeting with Ohtani

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  Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer Dec 5, 2023, 04:25 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Exciting news from Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Tuesday! He shared that the team recently met with two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani at Dodger Stadium. This is the first time anyone has shared any information about Ohtani’s highly anticipated free agency, and Dodgers Manager Roberts made it clear that Ohtani is their top priority.

There are five teams believed to be finalists for Ohtani – the Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays. All are anxious to see where he will go.

Even though the finalists are mainly tight-lipped, Blue Jays manager John Schneider confirmed that his team met with Ohtani at their spring training facility on Monday. Meanwhile, Cubs manager Craig Counsell dismissed any connections to Ohtani’s and his team’s overall interest in him, and the Dodgers’re already being seen as the favorites for Ohtani, although the Blue Jays have emerged as a legitimate threat.

“Yeah, we met with Shohei, we talked. And I think it went well.”

Roberts was honest during his media session at the winter meetings, saying he’s confident that the team’s talk with Ohtani went well. He also commented that, “he’s his own man. And he’s going to do what’s best for himself, where he feels most comfortable.”

Ohtani, who is expected to serve solely as a designated hitter for the next season, had surgery in September and will not be able to pitch again until 2025. The Dodgers expressed their interest in him in 2017, but were limited due to not having the DH available in the National League at that time.

For the Dodgers, signing Ohtani is a top priority while they also seek to add two to three pitchers for their rotation, with reports surfacing that they are aggressively pursuing Japanese starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto as well. With Ohtani, the Dodgers believe he will bounce back from his surgery to perform effectively as a two-way player, despite having suffered two torn ulnar collateral ligaments in a five-year span.

“In ’17, I think it was more of an overview; more of a sell on things he didn’t really know about — the country, the city, the organization, potential role,” Roberts said. “And I think that this situation, not trying to speak for him but it’s a little bit more narrowed on what his desires are, as far as teams, and I don’t think the sell needed to be as large.” To learn more about this story, click here.

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