- Ohtani signed a deal with the Dodgers that is the richest in baseball history
- Giants executives say they offered the Japanese player the same deal
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The San Francisco Giants made three offers to Shohei Ohtani, including a final proposal that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi called “very similar, if not identical” to the record $700 million, 10-year contract the Japanese two-way star agreed to with rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani spent two hours with the Giants before meeting with Zaidi, Greg Johnson, former catcher Buster Posey and new manager Bob Melvin on December 2.
Zaidi said San Francisco has increased and adjusted its offers to meet Ohtani's requests.
“The proposal that was made was very similar, if not identical, to what he ultimately agreed to,” Zaidi said during a conference call on Tuesday.
“We offered what would have been the largest contract in Major League history. I suspect we weren't the only team to do that.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said they offered Shohei Ohtani a huge contract
Zaidi says it was similar to the contract the Japanese star signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers
'But we immediately wanted to show our aggressiveness and interest.'
Zaidi said it might have been helpful to take Ohtani to the San Francisco area to view neighborhoods and real estate, but the meeting was limited to Oracle Park to avoid Ohtani being spotted.
When the Giants got the sense that Ohtani seemed to want to stay in Southern California, Zaidi said they realized it might be a difficult deal to reach despite the proposed financial commitment.
“And then we knew this would be a challenge for us,” Zaidi said.
San Francisco executives had not heard from Ohtani's representatives as of Saturday morning, a few days after the club's latest offer.
That became worrisome for the Giants as the team waited for the player to make his selection.
The Giants missed Aaron Judge last season and then decided not to finalize a 13-year, $350 million deal with shortstop Carlos Correa after concerns arose about his physical appointment with surgery on his right leg in 2014.
When asked to comment on whether the Giants' proposal was nearly on par with what Los Angeles had to offer, Zaidi noted, “Structure and total compensation, yes.”
Zaidi: 'We offered what would have been the largest contract in Major League history'
He was given the indication near the end that all of Ohtani's offers were “in the same range” and the Giants tried to stay in touch to see what they could do to improve their position in the chase.
Zaidi called it “a typical deal,” given the significant deferred money involved.
“I think at certain points we felt very good about our chances, at other points, as always, you have some questions or doubts because you know it is very competitive,” Zaidi said.
“We felt like we pulled some levers to try to make things happen and there were ways in which I think we were disadvantaged just in terms of player preference, particularly geography, that this ended up being kind of a free is. agency,” he added.
“The bottom line is that a player – and if you're talking about a generational player – is going to make great choices and probably be able to check pretty much any box he's looking for.”