Blue Jays manager jokes Shohei Ohtani should return gifts from visit to FA

Before Toronto Blue Jays fans started dreaming of winning a World Series, they dreamed of seeing Shohei Ohtani sign with them in free agency.

The two-way megastar met with the Blue Jays on December 4, 2023, at their spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida, before ultimately signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first game of the Fall Classic begins at 8 p.m. ET Friday at the Rogers Center and will be broadcast exclusively on FOX. And Ohtani will be the first batter the Blue Jays face.

The Blue Jays gave Ohtani a hat and a jacket for Decoy, Ohtani’s dog. Both of those gifts, Blue Jays manager John Schneider joked, he’d like to have back.

“I hope he brought his hat, the Blue Jay hat that he took from us at our meeting. I hope he finally brought it back,” Schneider said Thursday.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays will face off in the 2025 World Series. (FOX)

“And the jacket for Decoy,” he added. “It’s like, ‘Give us our stuff back already.'”

Ohtani smiled when he heard Schneider’s remarks and simply said through a translator, “He’s in my garage.”

Last season was Ohtani’s first with the Dodgers, and he won the NL MVP, hitting .310 with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases, while helping the Dodgers win the World Series title.

This season, he returned to the mound and continued his dominant play. Pitching in a limited role after returning from elbow surgery, he hit .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs and 20 steals while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 62 in 47 innings.

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani celebrates his victory against the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on October 17, 2025. (Brynn Anderson/AP Photo)

His strong regular season puts him in contention to win the fourth MVP award of his career.

Ohtani’s final feat was one of the most legendary performances in MLB postseason history. He hit three homers while pitching six shutout innings and striking out 10 against the Milwaukee Brewers as the Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series.

“He’s a great player,” Schneider said. “But that aside, I think we have a great team and an incredible cast of characters and players. I think things worked out the way they were supposed to.”

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Los Angeles Dodgers two-way infielder Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with third base coach Dino Ebel (91) as he runs home to score after hitting a solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh inning during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on October 24 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

The Blue Jays manager said he wasn’t sure how close the team was to signing the Japanese superstar.

“When we met him, you felt good and the feedback he was giving about our organization and the opportunities here,” Schneider said. “But you never really know how a player feels in free agency, and there’s a lot of things that have to line up for him personally as well. So you can’t really think about what if. You think about the 26 (players) we have.”

Nearly two years after Ohtani’s decision in free agency to choose the Dodgers over the Blue Jays, both teams are in the World Series.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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