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As Shohei Ohtani tries to decide which of seven MLB franchises is the best fit for his future, Ross Atkins is still trying to get over not being on the Japanese star’s shortlist.

Touching on the subject for the first time since Ohtani’s representatives called the Toronto Blue Jays GM on Sunday with the news they were no longer in the running for the two-way star, Atkins expressed his disappointment over missing out on what’s believed to be a franchise-altering opportunity to secure the rights to Ohtani for well below market value.

“It was one of the toughest phone calls I’ve had all year, by far,” Atkins said Wednesday afternoon. “That feeling of excitement that we could be in the mix was definitely there. We worked tirelessly on it across many departments and the entire organization. It was very difficult for me to call others in our organization to let them know that we weren’t (in the mix).

“At the same time, we felt incredibly proud of the work that was done to present what we felt was a very strong case for him to be a great player in a great environment and win championships.”

Thanks to international bonus pool restrictions, Ohtani represented what likely amounts to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure a ready-made star at a fraction of the price it would normally take.

Eventually, the 23-year-old will make his money, but the first six years of the contract — even if some of it is eventually bought out with an extension — will provide an extreme surplus value for whichever organization Ohtani signs with.

Ohtani reportedly wrapped up two days of meetings with his seven finalists Tuesday night, listening to pitches from the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.

“He’s a generational-type player, according to just about every scout that’s seen him play,” Atkins said. “Every executive you talk to says the same thing. Every fan, media person that watches the guy play, it’s unusual. The acquisition cost was as good as it gets and that can change and, really, reshape any organization, that type of acquisition.”

DONALDSON CONTRACT

The Jays have the safety of one more team-controlled season of Josh Donaldson, but time is ticking on a potential long-term extension.

At some point over the next couple of months, Atkins will have to sit down with Donaldson’s MVP Sports Group agency to see if there’s common ground on keeping the 2015 American League MVP in Toronto past 2018.

“He’s been awesome and we’ll remain in contact over the course of this year,” Atkins said. “We have a one-year deal to certainly talk about and both parties want to see if there is something there long term.

“We’ll do everything we can to determine, if both parties agree, that there’s some value that makes sense.”

Atkins did say he’d be comfortable starting the season with Donaldson on a one-year deal and slated to hit the open market next winter.

“If that’s where we end up, that’s where we end up,” Atkins said.

The situation isn’t completely on the back burner, however.

“We don’t want things to linger,” Atkins said. “We have certainly talked about a strategy.”

ALL IN ON ALEDMYS

While Atkins revealed the Blue Jays may not be done adding to the middle infield mix, he believes the acquisition of Aledmys Diaz last Friday from the St. Louis Cardinals gives them a legitimate option to turn to if the oft-injured Troy Tulowitzki and/or Devon Travis miss significant time in 2018.

After an all-star campaign that saw him slash .300/.369/.510 with 17 home runs as a rookie in 2016, Diaz struggled this past season, eventually finding himself demoted to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds for most of the second half.

“Our scouts feel as though he’s closer to that 2016 player than the 2017 player,” Atkins said. “There are some subjective reasons to believe that and also just buying in to the total track record and what he’s done in his career and how he complements our roster.”

In addition to hearing great things about Diaz’s character and work ethic, Atkins loves the versatility he brings, as reports on his work at third base and second base — two positions the natural, if below average, shortstop hasn’t played much as a professional — were excellent late last season.

Atkins said the reason they were able to make the deal and send outfield prospect J.B. Woodman the other way is the fact the team’s prospect depth is in much better shape today than it was a year ago.

FOR SALE SIGN

After Chief Financial Officer Tony Staffieri let the cat out of the bag at a conference in New York that Rogers Communications Inc. is considering selling off assets like the MLB franchise, it was only a matter of time before the baseball side was asked how the situation of a potential sale would affect them.

Not one bit, Atkins said.

At least for now.

“(Ownership) have all been extremely supportive and given us very clear direction and we feel like we have everything we need to make this team a very good one,” Atkins said.

The budgetary process is complete, and while Atkins wouldn’t reveal exactly how much payroll he has to work with, he said there’s more than enough room to add significant pieces to the roster.

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Blue Jays finished last season with a payroll in the range of $164 million.

FRONT OFFICE DANCE

Atkins’ philosophy when other teams call about front office employees is to always say yes and allow that individual to decide what’s best. 

That situation played out recently when assistant general manager Andrew Tinnish, a Canadian, accepted a job to join former boss Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta, only to have a change of heart a couple days later and rejoin the Blue Jays’ front office. 

Calling Tinnish “an incredible negotiator,” Atkins said Tinnish bleeds blue and was welcomed back in the same role with open arms.

“He wasn’t the only employee that was requested on this year, and he wasn’t the only employee requested on by the Atlanta Braves,” Atkins said.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT CHANGES

Tinnish wasn’t the only one searching flights to Atlanta.

Earlier this week, head athletic trainer George Poulis bolted for Anthopoulos’ new organization, being named the Braves’ director of player health and head athletic trainer.

Poulis, who spent 15 years as Blue Jays’ head athletic trainer, is just the latest shakeup in the medical department, after the firings of assistant athletic trainer Mike Frostad and head strength coach Chris Joyner in October.

Atkins claims there was not a disconnect between the existing medical staffers and the organization’s high-performance department, which was established prior to the 2016 season and expanded upon heading into last season.

When the season came to a close in October, Atkins lamented internal communication issues as one of the problems that kept the team under .500 for the entire campaign.

Of course, the Blue Jays ended up being one of the more injury-ravaged teams in the league in 2017, including lingering injuries to key players like Josh Donaldson, Aaron Sanchez and Devon Travis, among others.

“It was more skillset differences and marrying those two sets of experiences and less philosophical,” Atkins said.

During the final series in New York, Donaldson didn’t exactly have a glowing review of the high-performance team, saying he’d be following his own training regimen in the off-season.

That didn’t seem to bother Atkins a whole lot, with the GM saying they’ll still try to give all of their players the tools to succeed.

“Every player, it’s their career,” Atkins said. “It’s absolutely their career.”​