Major League Baseball

'YOU HAVE TO SIGN THIS GUY': Fan tried to put Shohei Ohtani on Mets' radar — in 2012

Updated Jun. 28, 2023 7:13 p.m. ET

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If the New York Mets want to sign Shohei Ohtani next offseason, they will have to pay up.

The current Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar is expected to command the richest contract in MLB history, and deservedly so as he continues to cement himself as one of the best baseball players ever. 

But the Mets could have signed Ohtani to a rookie-level deal before 2018 — he only made $525,000 during his rookie season — or even before, back in 2012, where a then-teenaged Ohtani flirted with MLB teams before deciding to stay in Japan and join the Nippon-Ham Fighters because they would let him both pitch and hit regularly.

It was then, during Ohtani's initial MLB interest, that one fan tweeted at then-Mets general manager Sandy Alderson with what has turned out to be perhaps one of the most prescient tweets in the history of baseball Twitter.

The plea, of course, fell on deaf ears until it resurfaced amid Ohtani's continued excellence during the 2023 season. Now, he seems more poised than ever to win his second American League MVP in three years before he grabs the spotlight even further this winter with what promises to be a historic free agency sweepstakes.

Meanwhile, the Mets sit at 36-43 entering Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, before which owner Steve Cohen held a press conference to address the star-studded team's struggles following a 101-win 2022 season.

[Mets’ sinking ship has hit a new low after ugliest loss of the year]

Ironically, the current Mets general manager is none other than Billy Eppler, who signed Ohtani as Angels general manager in late 2017. Eppler will now have an opportunity to do so again — and make this Mets fan's dream finally come true — in just a few short months.

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