Mike Francesa Explains Reason Behind Wild Shohei Ohtani, Yankees Take

The New York sports radio legend gave a reason behind his terrible Ohtani take.

If you’ve been on the air as long as famed New York sports talk radio personality Mike Francesa, it’s likely you’ve had a bad take (or several) that have gone viral for being incredibly inaccurate.

In one of Francesa’s worst baseball takes he’s ever had, he labeled the Yankees as “lucky” that they lost out on generational superstar Shohei Ohtani. That take came a little over five years ago, when Ohtani came over from the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league in Japan and chose the Angels as a free agent.

With plenty of data now suggesting that Ohtani could be putting together one of the best statistical careers in baseball history, Francesa would like to walk that take back.

“I made a comment about Ohtani when I hadn’t seen him play yet,” Francesa said on The Mike Francesa Podcast. “All I said was I didn’t want to pay the guy a fortune until I saw him play. That was it. I hadn’t seen him play yet. I don’t think anybody would say he’s not good. But I still don’t like the people who say he’s already better than Babe Ruth. I don’t get it. How about standing the test of time for a while first? Babe Ruth didn’t do it for a year or two.”

Here’s the clip of Francesa’s initial take, that he admits was one he made without ever witnessing Ohtani’s play.

"The Yankees are lucky they didn't get Ohtani."

- @MikeFrancesa pic.twitter.com/t1FaaCdQax

— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) May 17, 2021

Ohtani’s play is now leaving Yankees fans wishing the franchise was lucky enough to sign him. 

Through 102 games this season, Ohtani is hitting .301 with 39 home runs and 81 RBI. He also hold a career-best 1.077 OPS as he continues to tear the cover off the baseball. On the mound, Ohtani is 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA and 156 strikeouts over 120 2/3 innings pitched.

Ohtani is expected to become the highest paid player in the history of baseball when he hits free agency this winter, so perhaps the Yankees can get in on the sweepstakes to sign him, much to the chagrin of Francesa.