If the best baseball league in the world was in Japan and you made the decision to play in Japan, wouldn’t you consider places in Japan with more Americans and with some American creature comforts? I sure as hell would, especially with the kind of pressure this kid is going to face. Don’t forget he is going to a much larger country and (for better or worse) to what is basically modern Rome. Personally I think it is cool he eliminated the Yankees before the Padres.
hes rich as hell and will have his own personal chef i imagine. As far as being closer to Japan, its not like hes flying back and forth between games and you are talking a 3 hour difference.
Rich guys like to go to restaurants. 3 hours is a lot when it is already a 10 hr flight and I'm guessing it is more than a 3 hour difference for some places.
Honestly I don’t really care if he goes to the Rangers. That team is rotten from the inside and won’t be easily fixed.
I’d love for him to choose to come to Houston, but honestly as long as he doesn’t go to the Dodgers I’ll be fine. Any AL West team would be a pain but I don’t really think either the Angels, M’s or Rangers are threats to win the division even with him.
When you're rich as hell (and he won't be, relative to other MLB players), time is far more valuable than anything else. It's weird that you'd think you're in position to judge what he should or shouldn't value.
Him on the M’s could be really dangerous. The M’s have some talent, money and prospects that could make them tough for the Astros.
M's farm system is lousy. If they get Otani, Nelson Cruz will have to play OF for them multiple times per week. That will be ugly. Paxton is good when healthy. Seager and Segura are fine. Felix fell off a cliff a few years ago. Cano is on the decline. Even with Otani they're probably a 90 win team at best.
As a human being I am uniquely qualified to judge what he values. For example if he made such an important decision based on which city had the best hotdogs I would call him a moron for valuing hotdogs over money or workplace atmosphere. I would also call him a moron for valuing 3 hours added flight time over those things. I doubt that's why he chose those places though. If you don't judge people by their decisions and what they value, then what can you judge them on?
a 90 win team with the ability to make more moves in the offseason and then improve at least incrementally at the deadline? That's a significantly dangerous, exactly as Nook suggested
You guys are funny. Adding Ohtani makes the Mariners a wild card contender. Sure they could push their payroll to $220mm and add Darvish, Lorenzo Cain and Wade Davis to try to make one last push with the Cruz/Cano/Felix core but typically those splashy FA teams don't work out. If the Angels land Ohtani they're just as 'dangerous' as the Mariners. Best player on the planet plus Upton, Simmons. Healthy Garrett Richards and Ohtani at the top of the rotation. I'd love for Ohtani to land in the AL west. Cant wait to see the kid pitch in MMP and the Astros could use another team in the division to push them.
Good point. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians are currently the only AL teams anywhere near Houston in terms of current talent level. Ohtani going to one of those teams would have been bad for Houston. Obviously him going to an AL West team isn’t ideal, but even if he is a 6+ WAR superstar right away, he won’t be enough for the Rangers, Angels, or Mariners to catch Houston or really even threaten them as division favorites.