Hey Shohei Ohtani, John Schneider called and he wants his Blue Jays gear back.

One of the biggest what-ifs surrounding the 2025 World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays concerns Ohtani, namely, that he very nearly became a member of the Blue Jays during his foray into free agency two years ago. So naturally, Blue Jays manager John Schneider, on the eve of Game 1 of the World Series on Thursday, was asked how close he believes Toronto was to landing the two-way superstar, who had narrowed his preferred list of teams to the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

Schneider reflected on his club's failed pursuit of Ohtani, then cracked a joke about the stops the team pulled out in its hopes to woo the superstar.

"You never know," Schneider said. "I think when we met with him, he felt good about it. You felt good about the feedback he was giving about our organization and opportunity here. But you never really know what a player is feeling in free agency. There's a lot of things that have to line up for them personally, too. So, you can't really think about what-if. You think about the 26 that we have. He's a great player.

"I'll say it again—I hope he brought his hat, the Blue Jay hat that he took from us in our meeting—I hope he brought it back finally. And the jacket for Decoy [Ohtani's dog]. You know? It's like, give us our stuff back already."

How close were the Blue Jays to landing Ohtani?

Pretty, pretty close. Toronto, armed with one of the highest payrolls in the big leagues, was willing to go step-for-step with the Dodgers, another financially muscular organization, in a race that eventually ended with the then-largest contract in North American sports history.

Toronto reportedly pulled out all of the stops in its efforts to sign Ohtani, including a secret tour of every inch of the Blue Jays' complex in Dunedin, Fla., jerseys, workout gear and accessories tailored to Ohtani's preferences, and yes, even a jacket for his dog Decoy, a Kooikerhondje.

Decoy was infamously front-and-center in the Ohtani recruitment process when some theorized and speculated that his dog's name was a clue as to where he could be headed in free agency. While it turns out that that wasn't the case, it's just another piece of insight into the enormity of Ohtani's free agency.

And while the Blue Jays ultimately struck out, Schneider still likes how things played out.

"He's a great player," Schneider continued. "But that aside, I think that we have a great team and just an unbelievable cast of characters and players. I think things worked out the way they meant to work out."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Blue Jays Manager Wants Shohei Ohtani to Return Two Things From Failed Recruitment.

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