After the 2017 season, the New York Yankees put a full-court press on Shohei Ohtani once he was finally available to teams stateside. They were let down fast. Ohtani’s representation informed the Yankees that he would not be going there early on in the bidding process.

The Yankees were always one of the favorites for Ohtani dating back to 2012. Nevertheless, they didn’t even make it to the final round of cuts. Those final teams in the running, hoping to sign a generational talent who proved to be better than imagined, were the Mariners, Rangers, Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, and Giants.

Dec 9, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; L-R; Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno, manager Mike Scioscia, Shohei Ohtani, general manager Billy Eppler and Vice President John Carpino during a press conference today at Angels Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

That winter, Cashman spoke glowingly of the organization’s failed attempts at signing Ohtani.

“I started getting a feel that wasn’t good a few days ago,” Cashman said in the winter of 2017 before pivoting to Giancarlo Stanton, according to Bryan Hoch. “I know that our presentation was excellent. The feedback from that was outstanding. I did get a sense that I can’t change that we’re a big market, and I can’t change that we’re in the East. That was something that, presentation or not, might be difficult to overcome.”

Ohtani, not even looking the way of the Yankees, wasn’t an outlier. The narrative around Ohtani when he was finally available again was that he didn’t prefer any team on the East Coast, but there was once a time they were a destination for Japanese-born stars, and geography wasn’t a hinderance.

Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka were the cream of the crop, and the Yankees were able to land them. Hiroki Kuroda is another. He went to the Dodgers first, but the Yankees were able to bring him into the fold in 2012.

Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa are other names that come to mind. Both their times with the Yankees were tumultuous, but the fact remains that they were highly coveted talents and chose New York.

Ohtani may not have preferred the East Coast, but if there were another time and place, they may have at least made it to that final bidding in 2017. They did with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, putting big money down on the table for him, but once he made his final decision, it appeared his only choice was joining Ohtani on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees tried hard for Yamamoto, too. The image of Cashman at his no-hitter, standing and clapping for him as he came off the field, went viral, but that wasn’t a foreshadowing of events. Cashman was just a spectator that day.

Why Yankees Can’t Land Stars From Japan

The Yankees were linked to Roki Sasaki as well, but at the time of his posting, it was clear where he was going. New York was never a choice.

If you ask Cashman he’ll say stars from Japan don’t want to play for an East Coast team. There is merit to this, but there was once a time when he stood next to Matsui and a few years later, Tanaka, and it begs the question if both were available now, would they even consider New York?

One would hope that watching Ohtani go six shutout innings and hit three home runs would make the organization take a long, hard look at itself in the mirror. Still, as we’re decades into the Cashman era, self-reflection does not seem like something the organization values. It’s how a team gets to a point where they have been repeatedly embarrassed at home, and the most consequential change to the coaching staff ends up being Mike Harkey, a bullpen coach, who had been with the organization for 16 years—Yankee exceptionalism at its finest.

Munetaka Murakami will be available this winter, and it’s the same song and dance as it was with Ohtani. They are one of the favorites for the slugger, but after missing out on Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki over the last decade, will they be shunned here too?

Signing Murakami is one way to change their fortunes. He is the next big star available to MLB teams, and landing him could show that they are still a worthwhile destination. If they don’t — and it’s fair to be skeptical — we’ll hear the usual geographical propaganda as those old tapes of Matsui and Tanaka’s introductory press conference in the YES Network vault get dusty.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!