A few days ago, Ken Rosenthal and MLB Network revealed the list of questions that Japanese Pitcher/Hitter Shohei Ohtani has for any organization in Major League Baseball that has any interest in signing him. Here are the questions, and here are my answers from a fans perspective. This is going to be a long one, but might be worth the read if you are interested in following the Ohtani Sweepstakes like I am.
“Evaluate Ohtani’s talent as a pitcher and as a hitter.”
Jerry Dipoto on his new podcast “The Wheelhouse” with Aaron Goldsmith stated that they wouldn’t by shy with throwing Cruz into the outfield 2 or 3 days a week in order to get Ohtani some at bats; so there’s no need for any further acknowledgment on whether or not the Seattle Mariners would allow and encourage Ohtani to both pitch and hit. As for evaluating his talent as both, Dipoto and other representatives for the Seattle Mariners have been scouting him for around a years worth of time according to Jerry Dipoto via The Wheelhouse Sports Blog, and have had serious interest and scouting that has lead to this moment of Ohtani declaring he will be coming to MLB in 2018. Serious evaluation has been made and it is clear Dipoto and the Mariners are serious about going after Shohei Ohtani and have stated they are pushing as hard as they can to convince him that Seattle is the place for him to play in.
“Explain your player development.”
Three words come to mind when asked how to explain our player development: Control The Zone.
This stems through not only the major league club, but throughout all minor leagues levels and ball clubs and international clubs as well. “Control The Zone” is simply a motto taken into action in regards to coaches and players doing their best to “control the zone”, both from a hitters AND pitchers standpoint. Given Ohtani is talented as both a pitcher and hitter himself, he not only fits into the Control The Zone philosophy that we the Mariners have, but fully embodies the philosophy as a player as whole on the field, and especially from the mental aspect. But you may be thinking this sounds great and all, but ask “does it work?” The answer is a resounding yes. When Jerry Dipoto, the General Manager and President of Baseball Operations for the Seattle Mariners took over on September 28th, 2015, he knew immediately what he wanted to do and how to do it in regards of making the Mariners a better playing baseball team from top to bottom in multiple facets. Within one full season, the major league team and ALL minor league teams displayed improvement, and the proof is in the fact every minor league team except for one made the post season in their league and two of them won the championship. More proof is individual players stats improving and so far sustaining their success since Dipoto & Co. took over a little over 2 years ago. The greatest part about this is the fact Ohtani embodies all of this, all at the young age of 23 with years to improve; and improve he would under the Control The Zone approach the Seattle Mariners organization incorporates throughout its system.
“Medical training and player-performance philosophies.”
In regards to player-performance philosophies, the answer to the previous question goes in depth about that philosophy, “Control The Zone”. In regards to medical training, look no further than the Mariners hiring the first ever Director of High Performance and its leader Lorena Martin. Dr. Martin has Masters Degree in Sports Psychology and has previously worked as the Director of Sports Performance Analytics for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. She was also a Sports Science Evaluator and Consultant for Ripken Baseball, a Sports Psychology Coach for Athletic Mental Performance, Inc., and the Lead Statistician for the Kaweah Delta Hospital District. Her educational background began with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and minors in Spanish and Leadership from the University of Miami. She then went on to get her Master of Science from Nova Southeastern University, returned to U of Miami for her PhD in Exercise Physiology, and completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in Preventive Medicine at the University of California San Diego, where she earned three post-doctorates in GIS spatial analysis, biostatistics, and epidemiology. She is committed to bringing all of the Mariners physical/nutritional health and more into one department and make modern day advancements on how to improve and sustain player health. The Mariners could definitely use this as multiple players went on the disabled list multiple times; though not at fault of the coaching or training staff, but a combination of bad luck and some lack of personal dependability to keep yourself healthy and ready for game day. Dr. Martin and her staff will ensure players are both mentally and physically prepared for the season and each individual game, and believe this would greatly benefit Ohtani as he will be a multi-talent player if he were to join the Seattle Mariners.
“Description of minor league and spring training facilities.”
Aside from referring to the Control The Zone philosophy/approach the Mariners have incorporated into their minor league system and throughout spring training and the rest of the season, we would also mention the fact that these teams are located around the country, as well as a Dominican Republic affiliate. Our spring training facility is located in Peoria, Arizona and is shared with the San Diego Padres. As soon as you arrive you will get the feel for the sport of baseball as well as the feel of a perfect hot midsummer day to play baseball. We work hard over the 6 weeks the team is down there preparing for the quickly approaching season, and make sure all of our players feel welcome and appreciated for their efforts and poise while at the same time taking things seriously as the Mariners hope for another chance at a post season and World Series appearance.
“Resources for Ohtani’s cultural assimilation into their city.”
Firstly, we’d like to list the plethora of Japanese players that have come to Seattle over the last 2 decades in the likes of: Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Norichka Aoki, Munenori Kawasaki, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and others. Most, if not all have received not only a warm welcome by the Seattle Mariners organization and its fanbase, but have enjoyed their time and stay in a Seattle Mariners uniform and living in and around the city of Seattle, which has a rich Japanese culture throughout it, especially within the Mariners Organization, including having been owned by Nintendo.
“Vision for how Ohtani could integrate into the organization.”
Many clubs, including the Seattle Mariners believe Ohtani is an immediate impact player in the fact he would slide into the rotation immediately and in some cases the DH slot, or possibly in the field of Ohtani is open to it. Jerry Dipoto has been open to the idea of slotting current DH Nelson Cruz into the outfield two or three days a week in order to give Ohtani at bats on his days off from pitching. He does not need to be assigned to AAA Tacoma, as stated before, he will fit into the 25-Man roster immediately and be given more than one role in the field. He will bolster a currently weak back end of the rotation and be paired with another top arm, then bolstering the entire rotation. He can give the lineup much flexibility as when he is DHing, Nelson Cruz could get a day in right field or even the day off and have Ben Gamel or Guillermo Heredia play in right for a day a week. We believe Ohtani would directly effect the Seattle Mariners roster and daily approaches and strategies in how we manage a baseball game.
“Tell Ohtani why their team is a desirable place to play.”
Not only is Seattle a beautiful city with the best ballpark in the world to play in, but bigger named stars have been more prone to sign with the Mariners than in some years ago when the may have been reluctant to. The likes of Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Jean Segura, Kyle Seager, and others have signed with or extended their contracts in order to play baseball in Seattle long term. One such star was Ichiro Suzuki, who signed in 2001 and signed two contract extensions during his time in Seattle before getting traded in 2012. He played and enjoyed his time in Seattle for over 11 years, along side other Japanese players like Kazuhiro Sasaki, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and Munenori Kawasaki. So not only would current and former Mariner players speak kindly and in favor of playing in Seattle, but so would the Japanese players that have played here over the years. And not only that, but it’s just across the ocean from Japan and has a strong Japanese culture that Ohtani would fit right into.
So after listing all of these things off the top of my head (took me about a day to do so), it looks like we should have a fairly strong advantage in signing Shohei Ohtani. Most, if not all of these questions are right up the Mariners and city of Seattle alley and essentially scream to Ohtani that these are all key fits for him in Seattle. The more I think about it, the more I begin to think...
The Seattle Mariners are going to land Shohei Ohtani.
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