Shohei Ohtani: The New Dodger in Town?

By Robby Posio

On Saturday, December 9th, Shoei Ohtani did the unthinkable: he joined the dark side. The two-way superstar secured the most lucrative contract in American sports, a 10 year, 700 million dollar contract from his former team's crosstown foes, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The contract and location may not be a surprise, but the way it happened surely shocked the entire baseball world. 

From the moment that he was projected to hit the open market, teams viewed him as the most coveted free agent in MLB history. Since entering the league in 2018, the two time MVP hit for a 148 OPS+ and pitched to a 142 OPS+. Every time he steps on the field, everyone expects this man to do something that hasn’t been done since the 19th century. 

However, the prospect of getting Ohtani was not feasible for the majority of the league. There were reports that he was only interested in playing in a big market, preferably on the West Coast. Additionally, his asking price was well beyond what most of the league could afford. As a result, the “finalists” for the Ohtani sweepstakes were the Angels, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, and Cubs. 

Throughout most of Ohtani’s free agency (which really started in the middle of last season), the Dodgers were the clear front runners. They checked off all of the requirements that Ohtani was looking for: big city, West Coast, and a boatload of money. 

Despite the rumors, the Blue Jays emerged as the favorites a few days before he ultimately announced his decision. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that Ohtani could be making his decision as early as Friday. A couple of hours later, Morosi tweeted that Ohtani was “en route to Toronto.” This news shocked the baseball world and Blue Jays fans were ecstatic. 

Shortly after Morosi’s tweet, Bob Nightendale came out with a conflicting report that said Ohtani was not in Toronto. In actuality,  Ohtani was in his house in Southern California contemplating one of the biggest decisions in sports history. 

 Less than a day later, Ohtani announced on his Instagram that he was signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, promptly crushing Blue Jays fans' dreams. 

The way this all went down led to the theory that Ohtani’s agents leaked this information to Morosi to get more money out of the Dodgers. The only people that know if Morosi’s tweets were lousy reporting or a strategy are Ohtani and his team. I have a feeling that the public will never get the real answer. 

With the addition of Ohtani, the Dodgers are now the clear frontrunners to win the World Series. Ohtani rounds out an already star studded lineup that includes former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Although Ohtani will not pitch this upcoming season due to injury, he will be the ace of a staff that won 111 games last season once he returns. With the amount of superstars on this roster, the Dodgers dynasty is inevitable.