Shohei Ohtani signs with Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani’s extraordinary pursuit of history, one man’s quest to rewrite the baseball world’s understanding of what is possible, reached a new apex Saturday when he agreed to the largest contract in the annals of major North American team sports, a ten-year $700 million contract. contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his agency CAA announced.

Ohtani announced his decision on Instagram. The deal ends years of feverish speculation about Ohtani’s future. Ohtani, a 29-year-old two-way sensation, has captivated the industry since leaving Japan for Major League Baseball heading into the 2018 season. He has done things that seemed impossible in the modern era, feats that hark back to Babe Ruth. When he toured the country with the Los Angeles Angels last summer, fans serenaded him with recruiting pitches. When he entered free agency, there were a dozen teams lining up, curious to see if they could meet him.

Only one team was able to secure Ohtani’s services. He will now be compensated for both his immense talent and his unparalleled star power. His contract eclipsed the $360 million record for free agents set last winter by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and also surpassed the record $426.5 million extension of Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout. His performance surpassed even those outside of baseball, topping the $450 million contract signed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Ohtani has even surpassed football star Lionel Messi’s $674 million contract signed in 2017 while he was at FC Barcelona.

His individual brilliance wasn’t enough to take the Angels to the postseason. With the Dodgers, Ohtani now has the opportunity to add collective hardware to his trophy case. The Dodgers have won the National League West in 10 of the past 11 seasons, reached 100 wins in five of the past six full seasons and won the World Series in 2020. Ohtani has never reached a postseason in his big-league career match played.

“My feeling is he wants to be the best ever,” said St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who played with Ohtani in the World Baseball Classic last spring, “but I don’t think he would ever say that publicly.”

Major questions remain about Ohtani’s future. He won’t pitch in 2024 as he recovers 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 the Angels have disclosed the exact nature of the second surgery, but the Los Angeles Times has reported that this was so. a second Tommy John procedure.

Balelo has emphasized that Ohtani remains committed to both pitching and hitting in the future. “Shohei loves pitching,” Balelo told reporters in September. Ohtani will look to return to the mound in 2025. His camp has not revealed at what point Ohtani might consider giving up his dual career and focus on learning another position. Since he was a teenager, Ohtani has ignored suggestions that he focus on just one goal.

Ohtani demonstrated his potential as American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, but his mutual hopes were put on hold after his first elbow surgery. Only in 2021 did the full flower of his abilities blossom. He has won the American League MVP in two of the past three seasons; in the interim season, he led all American League pitchers in strikeouts while hitting 34 home runs with an .875 OPS. To make a comparison for him requires inventions that sound whimsical. “It’s like Judge went out and won 20 games too,” former teammate Kole Calhoun said.

Ohtani aspires to be a starting pitcher. If he can’t stay healthy enough for that role, he could help his new team as a reliever. He closed out the final game of the World Baseball Classic and secured the crown for Japan by striking out Trout. His four-seam fastball averaged almost 90 mph in 2023; the speed of the pitch improves in short bursts.

Even if Ohtani never pitches again, his value as a hitter is enormous. In 1920, his first season solely as a hitter, Ruth led the American League in homers, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In 2023, Ohtani, while still making 23 starts with a 3.14 ERA, led the American League in the same three categories as Ruth. He hit 44 home runs with a career-best 1.066 OPS. He did this while making starts and dealing with a torn ligament in his elbow.

Only one stage remains for Ohtani. He has never played a postseason game in the Majors. As the Angels went bankrupt in recent years, Ohtani became more vocal about his desire to play for a winner. Now he has the chance to write a different kind of history.

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(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)