Blue Jays manager John Schneider hopes fans give Ohtani rude welcoming

On Friday night at the Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays will be taking on one of the greatest players the MLB’s ever seen when Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town.

And while he’s visited the city many times before as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, this time will be a little bit different.

Last December, Ohtani met with the Blue Jays as part of one of the biggest free agent sagas baseball has ever seen, with the team considered among the front runners for the two-way star.

But this wasn’t your typical free agency period.

There were several rumours and reports proven false, tracking of a private jet that ultimately belonged to Dragons’ Den star Robert Herjavec that had no ties to the free agent, and ultimately, the discovery this spring of a gambling addiction and wire fraud scandal involving Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

For Toronto manager John Schneider, he says there’s no ill will that the $700 million Ohtani signed wasn’t with Toronto.

“No. If anything, just tell him we want our Blue Jays hat back that he took with him after our meeting,” Schneider said Wednesday, as per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.

But Schneider admits the fans might not feel that way — and is expecting a few boos coming down from the Rogers Centre faithful.

“It might be a little different,” Schneider said. “Especially with those 12 or 24 hours in Toronto in December. Hopefully, they give it to him a little bit, but man, he’s a hell of a player. He’s a great player. You don’t like watching him from the other dugout, but you have to appreciate how good he is. It will be interesting to see how the fans welcome him.”

As for Ohtani himself, he found the whole saga quite, well, puzzling.