Shohei Ohtani gave Lars Nootbaar gift that hints he wants to play with him again

Those hopeful that Lars Nootbaar will get Shohei Ohtani to the St. Louis Cardinals will eat up the meaning behind the gift Ohtani gave Nootbaar.

Lars Nootbaar and Shohei Ohtani had the ultimate bromance going on Team Japan during the World Baseball Classic. Understandably, that has St. Louis Cardinals fans incredibly excited about Ohtani’s free agency after this season.

Ohtani, who has spent the entirety of his MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels, needs a change of scenery. The Angels have rostered both him and Mike Trout, two generational talents, and yet failed to build a contending team year after year.

Ohtani, the MLB’s best two-way player perhaps ever, but at least in the last 75-100 years, will command a hefty paycheck, perhaps a decade-long deal surpassing $500 million.

The bromance got even more real when Ohtani gifted Nootbaar something that will keep the two players connected for years to come.

Shohei Ohtani clearly wants to play with Lars Nootbaar again

When Ohtani and Nootbaar were getting to know each other in Japan, Ohtani noticed Nootabaar was an admirer of a watch Ohtani was wearing. According to a Japanese website, translated to English by a helpful Reddit user, Ohtani gifted the luxury watch to Nootbaar on the condition that he plays for Team Japan again in 2026, a condition Nootbaar was all for.

While the commitment was to play together on team Japan, it’s not that hard to make the mental leap from Ohtani enjoying playing with Nootbaar enough to beg him to come back to Japan in 2026 to him being open to the idea of playing with him for 162 games a year in St. Louis.

For now, we wait and see on Ohtani. Virtually every team in the MLB would like to have him when he hits the open market this winter. It’ll come down to who is willing to shell out the contract, as well as on his interest.

Geographically, St. Louis is disadvantaged since it’s further away than the coast from his hometown, but maybe a friendship that reminds Ohtani of home will help hurdle that obstacle.