Throughout his free agency, Shohei Ohtani wanted to keep a low profile and reportedly informed interested teams to not leak information about their meetings with him to the public.
That’s why it came as a surprise when Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed the club met with the two-way star during the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville.
When asked about the disclosure of the meeting, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes admitted he wasn’t sure if Roberts’ comments would affect the team’s chances to sign Ohtani.
As frustrations grew, country music star Brad Paisley helped smooth things over between Roberts and the Dodgers front office with a late-night gathering at his farm, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
Tuesday evening, the country music star and noted Dodgers diehard invited team officials — Roberts and Friedman among them — to his nearby 100-acre farm for a late-night soiree.
Roberts’ revelation did not have a negative impact on the Dodgers’ pursuit of Ohtani as the team signed him to a record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract with unprecedented deferrals.
Ohtani’s deal reportedly includes a clause that will allow him to opt out if owner Mark Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman are no longer associated with the Dodgers.
Brad Paisley gets ‘assist’ for Dodgers signing Shohei Ohtani
While speaking to reporters at Ohtani’s introductory press conference, Friedman gave Paisley some credit for the deal coming to fruition. “Quite a bit,” Friedman answered when asked if Paisley deserved any recognition for the Dodgers signing Ohtani.
“He definitely got an assist. He’s looking to rack up assists because he wants to challenge John Stockton’s record. He was great. The evening was great and certainly helpful.”
Paisley is a die-hard Dodgers fan and has been involved with the team numerous times, which included singing at one of Clayton Kershaw’s charity events in Dallas, Texas.
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