GM Meetings Day 1: Jays ready to pursue Ohtani The Toronto Blue Jays want Shohei Ohtani. Now, the only question that matters is: Does the two-way Japanese sensation want them? On the first day of the GM meetings in Orlando, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins admitted they’re ready to put a full-court press on Ohtani as soon as he’s officially posted.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays want Shohei Ohtani.

Now, the only question that matters is: Does the two-way Japanese sensation want them?

Set aside the confusion surrounding the posting process and the ins and outs of the international bonus pool restrictions that the 23-year-old left-handed hitter and right-handed pitcher is subject to.

The chase for the Nippon Ham Fighters star could boil down, very simply, to where Ohtani wants to play baseball.

To quote Lloyd Christmas … so you’re telling me there’s a chance?

On the first day of the GM Meetings in Orlando, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins admitted they’re ready to put a full-court press on Ohtani as soon as he’s officially posted.

“We are extremely prepared,” Atkins said. “He fits about as well as anybody could fit for our team right now. He’s an incredible talent.”

You’d have to be inside Ohtani’s head — or at least inside his inner circle — to know what cities he likes and what kind of quality of life aspects interest him.

But two things are certain: One is that he’s interested in winning. The other is that he’s eyeing a chance to continue his career as both a pitcher and hitter.

That’s something the Blue Jays can offer thanks to the American League DH, and it sounds like it will be part of the pitch.

Atkins feels like the organization’s investment in high performance analytics may help on that front too.

“There aren’t examples of it in the modern game, but data around recovery specific to that player, data around recovery relative to other players per position,” Atkins said. “We’re not going to have concrete research on how to have a two-way player, but to be a bit more scientific about it than subjective, I think, is a benefit to any organization that’s prepared to do that.”

Since Ohtani is under the age of 25, he’s subject to bonus pool restrictions, which hard caps teams between $4.75 million and $5.75 million to spend each year from July 2 until the following June.

Teams can also acquire up to 75 per cent of their original bonus pool allotment via trade.

According to reports, only six teams have enough bonus pool money to even offer Ohtani six figures.

The Blue Jays are not one of those six, but Atkins doesn’t feel that will be a problem if they get to that point.

“I don’t think we would have to do too much entirely different than most teams,” Atkins said. “This is going to be an interesting process, for sure. There’s still a lot more information to come, but I think by all means that we are in a position where we’re prepared to be just as capable as most teams to acquire him.”

Ohtani may not have the financial bargaining power that Japanese stars before him were afforded when they made the MLB move, but he still has the right to choose his destination, and that has every single team — some more realistically than others — at least holding out hope.

ANTHOPOULOS MAKES BRAVE MOVE

Two years after parting ways with the franchise he built back into a contender, former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was introduced as the Atlanta Braves’ new general manager Monday afternoon while the GM meetings were getting going.

Anthopoulos was expected to hop a flight to Orlando late Monday to join his cohorts at the annual event and get right to work on an interesting Atlanta roster that boasts one of the best farm systems in baseball.

The 40-year-old Montreal product, still revered by Jays fans for bringing post-season baseball back to Toronto, got exactly what he was looking for too — full control of baseball operations.

“I view this as one of the premier jobs in all of sports with the young talent that we have here,” Anthopoulos said during the press conference. “There are some dynamic young players. There's no question that we certainly expect big things moving forward.”

ATKINS’ TARGETS

While Atkins had no interest in getting into specifics Monday, he did skirt around the subject of his roster priorities.

As you can expect with a team that finished 10 games under .500, there are a lot of needs, but position players are atop the list.

“Right now, I think the bulk of our focus is on position players,” Atkins said. “Part of that is where our team is, part of that is the market.”

While the glaring hole in right field would seem to be a top priority, Atkins pointed to the need for more versatility on the roster, especially in the middle infield.

“I think our priority is complementing our infield in some way with versatility,” Atkins said. “Someone who can, not just play when needed, but someone who could potentially get 600 plate appearances across our infield.”

“We have to be prepared if Devon (Travis) is not ready to give us 600 plate appearances. If (Troy) Tulowitzki’s not able to give us 150 games, we have to be prepared to offset that. I think the best way to do that is to find someone that has the versatility that could also go to the outfield when we do have a completely healthy infield.”

The well-travelled Eduardo Nunez, who’s played more than 50 games in his career at second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield, could fit the bill in that regard.

Nunez has been worth a total of 4.8 fWAR over the past two seasons.

AROUND THE DIAMOND

Atkins, president/CEO Mark Shapiro, and a group of around 40 from the Blue Jays organization will attend Roy Halladay’s celebration of life Tuesday afternoon in Clearwater, Fla., about two hours away from where the GM Meetings are being held … Atkins shot down the report that Halladay had been turned away by the Jays organization when he wanted to work with their young pitchers. “What was reported wasn’t accurate,” Atkins said. “I’d rather not get into the details.” … Asked whether teams have been inquiring about third baseman Josh Donaldson, who’s slated to become a free agent after the 2018 season, Atkins didn’t say no, but reiterated what the franchise has been saying since June. “Every team also understands how much we value Josh Donaldson and how important he is to us,” Atkins said.