The Dodgers seem to be bungling their courtship of Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani’s camp reportedly had one rule for his highly anticipated free agency tour this offseason, and the Dodgers certainly appear to have broken it.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Friday that the two-way phenom wanted to keep information about his visits with teams as tightly sealed as possible. Any leaks would “be held against them.” Enter Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who revealed Tuesday at MLB’s winter meetings that Ohtani met his team in Los Angeles “a couple days ago.”

Any question about just how seriously teams took this purported threat was answered in part later in the day when both of the Dodgers’ top executives — president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes — refused to talk about any meetings with Ohtani. As part of the gaggle peppering Gomes with questions, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported, “He steadfastly refuses to talk about their pursuit.” The baseball exec only confirmed that Roberts’ comment caught him by surprise, and nothing more.

Based on what’s out there, all signs point to a sizable blunder on the Dodgers’ end that is compounded by the fact that they’re competing with a division rival for arguably the most talented player in baseball right now. However, it’s not clear whether this will actually have an effect on Ohtani’s final decision.

The two-time American League MVP wants nothing more than to win, and win now. Out of the teams reportedly still in the running for Ohtani’s services, the Dodgers are, quite frankly, the best possible roster to join if he wants to maximize his chances of winning a World Series in 2024. To dismiss that opportunity because of something rather superfluous would be in the opposite of his stated best interest.

That being said, it is still funny to think about a team like the Dodgers missing out on a generational talent because someone couldn’t follow what sure seems like a pretty simple rule to follow.