We all hope Ohtani is a part of the Rangers historic perennial Championship team. A month after the Rangers lost 102 games, I predicted they would win a World Series within 4 years. I now predict the Rangers will win 7 straight World Series Championships and I sure hope Shohei Ohtani decides to join us for those.

Beware Of The Teams Offering The Most Money
Watch out for teams willing to pay so much money that they can’t afford to bring in other top talent and really great players to win championships. They seem more in it for the love of money than for the love of the game. They’re more interested in selling Ohtani jerseys, bobble heads, television rights and seats more than they are in winning championships. They will give him enough money to wear as much gold and diamonds and rubies around his neck as he could ever want, but it won’t be nearly as satisfying as wearing those things around his finger in the form of a championship ring.

Tom Brady was the best quarterback in the NFL and won many championships, but he didn’t try to get as much money as he possibly could. He wanted to win instead. To quote Max Scherzer, “Money is great, but winning is better.” And a note. Shohei Ohtani is single, but when he settles down, he needs a healthy place for his family to not just live, but thrive.

Here are the 31 best reasons Ohtani or any player should sign with the Texas Rangers

1. Ohtani should join a team where he’s not THE man, but instead, ONE of the team of men who wins the World Series. The Texas Rangers won the World Series and showed Ohtani that he can rest and won’t be under constant pressure to dangerously and constantly push his body to its limits because so much rests on him to win.
2. The Texas Rangers incredibly strong farm system is one of the highest rated and full of so much talent, it will make the Rangers an extremely competitive team for far longer than Shohei Ohtani will play baseball.
3. Ohtani is GREATER at the Rangers Stadium. Over the last 6 years, Ohtani batted .354 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs in 44 games at the Texas Rangers stadium. In 2023 alone, Globe Life Field had 256 homeruns, 5 by Ohtani in 7 of his games there. That was 11% of his homeruns in only 4% of his games. At that same rate, he would hit 58 homeruns in just his 81 home games at Globe Life. The Cubs stadium allowed 195 HR’s and the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark only allowed 162. Shohei Ohtani will have far better numbers in the history books because Ranger stadium is a hitters stadium.

   

4. Everything’s bigger in Texas except taxes. Texas doesn’t have City, County and State Income Tax that Ohtani would have to pay if he plays for the extremely highly taxed Dodgers, Giants, Chicago or New York.
5. The air quality in both Dallas and Fort Worth is the purest there is in Texas. The data says that living in LA, if Ohtani chooses the Dodgers, is like him smoking 193 cigarettes per year. The Houston Astros have the 3rd most toxic air in America. Shohei Ohtani’s, and his future family’s, lungs matter. And if he lives out on a ranch 30 minutes from the stadium, even better.
6. Ohtani can help the Christians in the Rangers organization to achieve their greater purpose, for God to get more glory from the Texas Rangers than from any other baseball team in history. There is a surprisingly high number of devout Christian players, coaches, trainers, owners and other staff throughout the Texas Rangers organization and their Official Leather Goods partner, Saddleback Leather. I have read that Shohei Ohtani and a lot of his family are serious followers of God. To share that with his team would be a dream.
7. Ohtani will grow spiritually with the Texas Rangers because iron sharpens iron. There are so many men of God there, includingTony Beasley, the 3rd base coach, the spiritual father of the team. Ohtani will grow spiritually and help others grow too instead of slowly be pulled down by the majority. The Bible says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?
8. Be known as a wise, humble man who knows, "The more I play life for myself, the less I get". A fool (prideful man) says, "I play to get as much as I can". God resists the proud but gives grace (free gifts that we don't deserve or earn) to the humble. God could take it all away tomorrow or give you 6 World Series Championships.
   
9. We're always teaching our kids whether we like it or not, even if they aren't born yet. Kids don't care what we say, they care what we do. This is a HUGE opportunity to train your kids about how to think about life, without saying a single word.
10. More respect comes to those who don't think so highly of themselves. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others". - Philippians 2:3-4
11. An overwhelming number of players are asking to play for the Texas Rangers, even before they won the World Series. Their agents are saying Texas is their #1 destination. One future hall of fame pitcher personally told me that same thing. The future is bright for the Rangers.
12. Shohei Ohtani should choose a likable team rather than a hated one. Who doesn’t like the Texas Rangers besides Astros fans? They’re not one of those “You either love ‘em or you hate ‘em” teams like the Houston Astros, New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. Those teams are solid, but definitely each have millions of haters.

    

13. The Texas Rangers are NEITHER an East Coast or West Coast team like the Los Angeles Dodgers or the iconic New York Yankees. Texas is right in the middle of the United States for the 33 American states that don’t have a baseball team.
14. The Texas Rangers are America’s Baseball Team because Texas is known as “America” to the rest of the world. That’s one reason why Saddleback Leather is the Official Leather Goods of the Texas Rangers.
15. Shohei Ohtani would make Japan even prouder if he played for the Texas Rangers because the Japanese LOVE all things Texas and are fascinated with old west and cowboys. He will make Japan even prouder of him, not just proud of his record. Do it for Japan!
16. The Texas Rangers’ humble and respectful culture will make Ohtani’s parents and family even prouder of him because of the team he plays for. They won’t have to plug their nose and just deal with it as they would with a couple of other teams that clearly don’t match Ohtani’s values. 
17. The DFW airport has 6 daily direct flights to Japan so more Japanese could come on vacation to Texas to see him play. And his plane can fly almost anywhere in the world directly instead of transferring to get home and back.
18. DFW is in the central US so it is a 2 - 3 hour max direct flight to any of the 81 away games Ohtani will play. That means his friends and family can easily travel to support him for away games more often instead of it being an all day event flying from coast to coast if he played in New York or California. Imagine leaving 1 hour early to get to the airport, waiting one hour and then flying 5 or 6 hours to get there. Then doing that again to go back home. And there's usually a transfer somewhere mixed in going cross country.
19. Shohei Ohtani’s values match up with the state of Texas perfectly and his personal brand will be enhanced because of it. Texas is known as a friendly, respectful, traditional family oriented, hard working, good natured state. 
20. Shohei Ohtani is a private person and in a 30 minute drive from the Texas Rangers stadium, he could own a beautiful and peaceful private ranch to raise his family on.
21. Ohtani’s personal brand will grow because many people all over the world are fascinated by Texas and old west themes.
22. Dallas Fort Worth is the destination of choice for retired athletes to move to, to raise their families. A very high percentage return here.
23. Dallas Fort Worth is VERY family friendly with traditional values. Raising children in some cities or states is like raising them in a Rated R movie theater. Because Texas has a traditional culture, it attracts more traditionally minded people. That means there’s a higher likelihood of Shohei Ohtani’s future kids making friends with kids from families who hold his same traditional values.
24. Wives and girlfriends want their men traveling on long roadtrips with the accountability that comes with a group of men who value faithfulness and traditional moral values rather than with a bunch of party hounds.
25. Fort Worth has the BEST weather. In Houston people feel trapped inside their homes because of the sticky thick air. DFW has the least mount of that air out of the 5 big cities in Texas, so you can enjoy having fun outside. And Fort Worth gets more snow than all of the other big cities in the winter and the most rain in Texas besides Houston, so things are greener.
26. The best city for ALLERGIES and ASTHMA is Fort Worth because of the elevation and soil that the allergy and asthma causing plants don’t grow in.
27. Fort Worth is the SAFEST city in Texas with the least amount of violent crime, burglaries and drunk driving deaths.
28. Dallas and Fort Worth are in the FUNNEST area of Texas with more waterparks, amusement parks, lakes for fishing and watersports, and has all of the pro sports teams for basketball, baseball, Rugby, Soccer, Football, NASCAR, etc. It also has the Fort Worth Stockyards, which is the tourist hub of all things cowboy in the world.
29. Fort Worth is the LEAST CROWDED city in Texas which means less time in traffic and more space and privacy around you. See the data sources and read all of the benefits here.
30. The Texas Rangers have MLB’s nicest stadium and player clubhouse. Life is short and the season is long, so why not spend time in the best. 
31. Globe Life Field attracts better players because it is covered. Players won't have to stand out in 100 degree summer heat with sweat running down their ribs if they join the Texas Rangers. And there are no rain delays or rain outs which messes up their pitching cycles.

Shohei Ohtani, if you are reading this, I will personally give you a LIFETIME SUPPLY OF GOOD LOOKING HIGH QUALITY LEATHER GOODS WITH A 100 YEAR WARRANTY from my company, SADDLEBACK LEATHER. But only if you sign with the Texas Rangers and don’t sign with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, Cubs or anyone else. As Max Schertzer said, "Winning is Great BUT Leather is Better"

If you have any other reasons you believe Shohei Ohtani should sign with the Texas Rangers that aren’t on this list, please write them in the comment section below. And if you’re a Texas Rangers fan, like I am, then put the word out, make a post, draw a picture, do a video, anything publicly to let Shohei Ohtani know that there’s a whole lot of love waiting for him in Texas. This is a time when the Rangers need our help. They’ve worked hard for us to enjoy these games and the World Series and now it’s our turn to work hard for them. Partner with Saddleback Leather and the Texas Rangers to urge Shohei Ohtani to Texas.