Ohtani-San and a Hail-Mary

Ohtani will soon be making his decision if he has not already done so. I feel a sense of ominous dread, about it. The Padres had the last word and like our President, people are often most influenced by those they heard from most recently.

Dipoto is pulling out all stops, as evidenced by his freeing up more available money. Short of praying, Mariner fans have few options open to them. As many of you know, I penned a letter to Ohtani which resonated for many of you. Thanks to the people at Lookout Landing and SB Nation, it reached the desk of DiPoto. Whether it ever got to Ohtani remains to be seen. I have now taken an additional step.

I had the letter translated into Japanese, as a sign of respect and in hope that Ohtani would have the opportunity to read it for himself, rather than have a translator do it for him. The letter will follow in the next post. It’s somewhat arrogant for me to believe it could really make a difference. But you never know. On the slim chance that it could, someone other than me has to find a way to get it before Ohtani – now, if not sooner. I don’t know how to do this.

I leave it to all you intrepid journalists, social media savvy folks, those with contacts inside baseball to figure that out. Get it to Dipoto? Get it to Ohtani’s hometown paper? Send it to his team’s Headquarters? I don’t know which approach, if any, will work. As a friend of mine once said, "The notion that nothing can be done is completely unsatisfactory to me. Something must be done." It’s time for the hail-Mary. Will someone pick up the ball and pass it long and deep?

--- Larry Paros