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Shohei Ohtani’s singular quest to make history, one man’s quest to rewrite the baseball world’s understanding of the possible, reached another meeting Saturday when he agreed to a contract. largest in North American sports history, 10 years, $700 million. contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his agency CAA announced.
Ohtani announced his decision on Instagram. The trade ends years of heated doubt about Ohtani’s future. Ohtani, a 29-year-old with two passions, has been stealing the business since he left Japan for Major League Baseball heading into the 2018 season. He did things that seem impossible today, things that were remembered back to Baby Ruth. As he traveled the country with the Los Angeles Angels this past summer, fans cheered him on while looking for pitches. When he entered free agency, twelve teams lined up, wondering if they could see him.
Only one team can secure Ohtani’s services. He will now be rewarded for his immense talent and unmatched star power. His contract surpassed the $360 million free agent deal made last winter by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and the $426.5 million addition from Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout. His achievement exceeded those outside of baseball, and surpassed the $450 million contract signed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Ohtani has surpassed soccer star Lionel Messi’s $674 million contract – signed in 2017 while he was with FC Barcelona.
His individual brilliance was not enough to lift the Angels to the postseason. With the Dodgers, Ohtani will now have a chance to add more tools to his plate. The Dodgers have won the National League West in 10 of the past 11 seasons, 100 wins in five of the past six seasons and won the World Series in in 2020. Ohtani has never played in a postseason game in his major-league career.
“My feeling is that he wants to be the best,” said St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who played with Ohtani last spring in the World Baseball Classic, “but I don’t think he’s going to say that publicly.”
Important questions remain about Ohtani’s future. He will not pitch in 2024 while recovering from surgery in September to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018. Neither Ohtani, who has not taken questions from reporters since August, nor his agent, Nez Balelo, nor Angelu revealed the exact nature of the second surgery, but the Los Angeles Times reported. a second Tommy John procedure.
Balelo emphasized that Ohtani remains committed to hitting and hitting in the future. “Shohei likes to buy,” Balelo told reporters in September. Ohtani will try to return to the mound in 2025. His camp has not indicated when Ohtani will consider giving up his second career and focus on learning a different position. Since his youth, Ohtani has ignored advice to focus on just one pursuit.
Ohtani showed his potential to be the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, but his double goal was delayed after his first elbow surgery. It wasn’t until 2021 that the full bloom of his ability blossomed. He won the American League MVP in two of the last three seasons; in the postseason, he led all American League pitchers in strikeouts while hitting 34 home runs and an .875 OPS. Making a comparison for him includes new things that seem unusual. “It’s like Judge went out and won 20 games,” first baseman Kole Calhoun said.
Ohtani is committed to being a starting pitcher. If he can’t stay healthy for that role, he can help his new team as an assistant. He closed out the final game of the World Baseball Classic, securing the crown for Japan by striking out Trout. His four-speed fastball averaged 97 mph in 2023; the speed of the pitch equation improves with shorter bursts.
Even if Ohtani doesn’t stop, his value as a driver is still huge. In 1920, his first season alone, Ruth led the American League in homers, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In 2023, while still making 23 starts with a 3.14 ERA, Ohtani led the American League in the same three categories as Ruth. He hit 44 homers with a career-best 1.066 OPS. He did this while starting out with a torn ligament in his elbow.
There is only one more step left for Ohtani. He has never played in a postseason game in the majors. As the Angels have established themselves in recent years, Ohtani has been more vocal about his desire to play for a win. Now he has the opportunity to make another kind of history.
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(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)