What if the Chicago Cubs had managed to land Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani was arguably the most hyped player ever to come to the Major Leagues from overseas. The Chicago Cubs were one of the only teams in the National League that were in on him. Safe to say, the organization would look a lot different today had that come to fruition.

Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017 – choosing the Halos over the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs. He wanted to play on the West Coast, so the fact the Cubs were in it until the end speaks to the organizational structure at the time.

Ohtani has only won Rookie of the Year his first year and now leads the baseball in home runs in 2021, all while having a 3.35 career ERA and 2.79 this year. He made the All-Star team this season and keeps getting better. He’s only 27, so there is still time for him to continue to raise the bar.

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The Cubs are oft-maligned for not supplanting the former core, and Ohtani would have fixed a lot of needs. He would have given Chicago another playmaker, as well as a badly-needed starting pitcher to deepen the rotation. Who knows how the last three years might have gone had the Cubs had a player of Ohtani’s caliber.

An argument can be made it’s not much different given that Ohtani was hurt for much of 2019 and 2020, but he was still able to hit those years. Another argument can be made that he is another bopper and could have helped the club avoid its recent sell-off at the trade deadline.

Even if Jed Hoyer wound up selling his free agents-to-be – the Cubs could have kept Ohtani around as the centerpiece to build around moving forward. They would certainly be in a better place now then they are currently in terms of building blocks.

Chicago Cubs missed chance to make a splash and make history

The Cubs’ signing of Ohtani originally – had it happened – would have sent shockwaves through the baseball world, since he was very outspoken about wanting to play both ways and stay on the West Coast, and playing in the American League would have given him the best opportunity since the league has the DH.

Ohtani only signed for about $4 million and a $2.3 million signing bonus. At the time, the Cubs were crying poor, so it’s fair to presume they didn’t match the offer (and, again, if they did, his preference to be on the West Coast was at play big-time). Ohtani is a once-in-a-lifetime player, playing two ways, and has likely opened the door for a whole generation of players that will look to follow in his footsteps.

Ohtani is another in a list of players whom the Cubs had a chance to add and didn’t. Of course, Chicago and every other team that missed out on his services have to be lamenting their loss after seeing him produce with the Angels. When Ohtani is a free agent eventually, maybe the Cubs will be able to right a wrong.