SEOUL – For years it was almost impossible to see Shohei Ohtani anywhere without his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, just steps away. On Thursday, after Mizuhara’s abrupt resignation due to his involvement in illegal gambling, it was almost impossible to see Ohtani at all.

Ohtani did not enter the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse during the 50 minutes reporters were allowed inside before Thursday’s Seoul Series finale against the San Diego Padres. He also didn’t even venture into the hallway leading from the clubhouse to the dugout, where more than three dozen cameras from English-speaking, Japanese and Korean news stations were stationed during batting practice. His first public sighting came when he appeared at the on-deck circle in the bottom of the first inning, ripped a single into Joe Musgrove’s first pitch and just missed a pair of home runs in the 15-11 loss.

The two-time MVP was guarded at his locker after the game by some of the team’s public relations officials, who told Japanese reporters:otsukaresama” – which roughly translates to “thank you for your hard work” – as he left behind one of the officials without answering any questions before the club boarded its flight back to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers fired Mizuhara after Ohtani’s representatives accused him of engaging in a “massive theft” in which the player’s money was used to place bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker under federal investigation.

The accusation from Berk Brettler, the firm representing Ohtani, followed an investigation by The Los Angeles Times. The newspaper learned that Ohtani’s name came up during an investigation into Orange County resident Mathew Bowyer. According to the newspaper, Mizuhara, 39, placed bets with Bowyer.

Mizuhara did not respond to a request for comment. Ohtani is not currently facing discipline, an MLB official said, and he is not believed to be under active investigation by the league.

Not a single player spoke publicly before the game, with the barren home clubhouse packed with reporters. There were few signs left of Mizuhara’s short tenure with the franchise. When Ohtani strolled through the dugout Thursday night, he did so without his usual companion.

“It kind of is what it is,” Mookie Betts said after the game. “I hope Sho is good, but at the end of the day you have to let us take care of your work. Like I said, whatever cards we’re dealt, you’ve got to play them.’

The Dodgers lost the final game of the series 15-11. Ohtani, who went 1-for-5 with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, did not answer questions after the game and was escorted out of the clubhouse by a team PR official.

There was no question of having Ohtani play in Thursday’s game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, noting that Ohtani was in a hitter’s meeting while Roberts spoke to reporters around 3:15 p.m. local time. An abnormal day still had a normal routine.

Of course, a lot had changed in the past 24 hours. Ohtani was seen on air laughing with Mizuhara during the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s season opener, as if nothing had happened. The scene felt normal, a moment of celebration after Ohtani’s first game with his new club after signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers last winter. The image of Ohtani’s time in the major leagues, of his rise to global stardom with the Angels and now the Dodgers, included Mizuhara as his shadow.

After the match, Mizuhara stood in front of an unsuspecting clubhouse and spoke about the news that would become public the next morning.

The meeting was brief and abrupt, according to several people in the room. They described a “weird,” “strange” scene that included Dodgers owner Mark Walter and CEO Stan Kasten.

“Whatever has to do with that, the meeting,” Roberts said Thursday, “I can’t comment.”

Shohei Ohtani and substitute interpreter Will Ireton will be in the Dodgers’ dugout on Thursday. (Chung Sung-June / Getty Images)

According to a team source, Mizuhara told a version of the story in the room that was similar to what he told ESPN in his first interview, which took place on Tuesday.

According to a spokesperson for Ohtani, the player’s involvement was initially described as helping Mizuhara. Ohtani transferred money to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debts of approximately $4.5 million. The money did not go directly to Mizuhara because Ohtani did not trust his interpreter not to ‘gamble it away’. Before Mizuhara’s interview with ESPN was published, the spokesperson denied Mizuhara’s story and said Ohtani’s lawyers would issue a statement.

Mizuhara said Wednesday that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling activities, debts or attempts to pay them.

By the time the media were allowed into the Gocheok Skydome home clubhouse after the meeting, Mizuhara had ducked into the hallway and only emerged near the end of Ohtani’s scrum with reporters to quickly interpret three English questions. By morning, with initial reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN well circulated, the Dodgers confirmed that Mizuhara — who had been Ohtani’s primary interpreter since his arrival in Major League Baseball and whose relationship with Ohtani even predated that time – was fired. Still, confusion remained among those within the organization, especially after Ohtani’s representatives dismissed many of Mizuhara’s claims in his interview with ESPN.

Speaking to a room full of media members who had gathered to ask about a story sure to make global headlines, Roberts declined to comment on the nature of the allegations and the decision-making process and timing behind Mizuhara’s firing.

Kasten declined to comment before Thursday’s game. So did president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

“There’s nothing to say,” Friedman said. “Literally nothing to say.”

The Dodgers quickly came up with a temporary contingency plan for Thursday. Due to an MLB rule limiting the number of interpreters in the dugout, the Dodgers had come to rely heavily on Mizuhara as an intermediary for the coaching staff to communicate with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was chased after just one inning in his Major League . debuted Thursday after signing a 12-year, $325 million deal last offseason. Mizuhara’s role, at least for today, was filled by Will Ireton. Ireton, the Dodgers’ manager of performance operations, had served as the club’s interpreter for Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda during much of Maeda’s four seasons in Los Angeles.

Yamamoto pointed to the remaining focus on the game, rather than the story that had made headlines.

“I don’t have much information about it,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “So I have nothing to say.”

The next steps remain obscure. According to a league source, MLB has not been contacted by prosecutors. The MLBPA declined comment, and Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, declined multiple requests for comment after being present at the Gocheok Sky Dome for much of the week.

It’s the second notable off-field incident in as many days during the Dodgers’ weeklong trip to South Korea after a bomb threat was made ahead of Wednesday’s opening day, potentially putting a damper on the lead-up to the most anticipated season of the season. Dodgers have had this since they moved to Los Angeles. The Dodgers’ $1.2 billion offseason, culminating in the addition of Ohtani, was always going to draw extra attention, and with it, criticism.

Roberts said, “We’re here to play baseball.”

– The athletics‘S Andy McCullough, Dennis Lin, Sam Blum and Britt Ghiroli contributed to this report.

(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani on Thursday: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images)

PHOENIX — Flags only fly forever if you raise them.

At Dodgertown, the ancestral home of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach, Fla., a mural celebrating six World Series winners greeted visitors. No such signage exists at Camelback Ranch. The team has won the National League West 11 times since shifting its spring training base to Arizona in 2009, but the franchise does not memorialize mere postseason berths. The Dodgers intended to build a monument to the 2020 World Series championship team but pandemic-related construction delays sidelined the project, and the organization moved on. There are no murals and no banners, no portraits of protocol-following perseverance. If you rely upon commemorative decorations as your guide, the triumph in a 60-game season may as well not exist.

When Mark Walter, the owner of the Dodgers and the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, met with two-way star Shohei Ohtani this past winter, he attempted to sell a vision based on these conflicting truths, the immense pride and deep frustration within his franchise. The Dodgers had become a colossus since Walter’s group took over in 2012 — a perennial contender, playing before crowds that lead the sport in attendance, driving a money machine now valued at nearly $5 billion. Yet the success could not offset the sting of October defeats. A series of early postseason exits since 2020 had disappointed Walter and those within his baseball operations department. As he outlined the dichotomy, Walter wanted to stress something to Ohtani: The owner considered his tenure running the Dodgers to be an on-field failure.

“We’ve only done it once,” said team president Stan Kasten, who was present when Walter spoke to Ohtani. “And we need to do it more often than that.”

In Ohtani — who will debut as a Dodger this week during a two-game series in Seoul, South Korea — Walter and the rest of the organization found a $700 million symbol of a new era. His arrival has vaulted the club into a new financial stratosphere, with a deferral-laden contract serving as the backbone for a $1.2 billion offseason bonanza. His presence has heightened expectations for a team that has not missed the postseason since Barack Obama’s first term in office. Ohtani chose the Dodgers because the franchise offered a pathway to October that had been foreclosed to him during six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. The Dodgers pursued Ohtani because they had grown tired of watching other franchises conduct parades in November.

And because a union between the two parties made far too much business sense to pass up.

When Kasten first heard about how Ohtani wanted to structure his contract, he assumed he was missing something. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman called Kasten after a discussion with Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo. “Can you repeat that?” Kasten said. Over the course of a 10-year pact, Ohtani intended to receive only $20 million, with $680 million deferred through 2043 so he would not handcuff his new team.

In recent years, the Dodgers have made deferrals a habit. The contracts for both perennial MVP candidates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman feature deferred millions. When the team offered $300 million to Gerrit Cole after the 2019 season, the bid included deferrals. Yet the contract Ohtani sought provided so much financial flexibility to the team that Friedman later admitted he would not have had the courage to suggest it himself. Kasten described Walter as “very supportive” of the contract structure. “I would tell you to ask Mark about it,” Kasten said. “But we know that’s not going to happen.” (Through a different team official, Walter, who rarely addresses the public, declined an interview request.)

With Ohtani’s contract functioning effectively as a credit card, Friedman rebuilt the starting rotation and bolstered the offense of a team that won 100 games in 2023 despite myriad shortcomings. The Dodgers bested the sport’s other financial behemoths to land Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a 12-year, $325 million deal. After acquiring Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Glasnow, the team hammered out a $110 million extension. The signing of former All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández for $23.5 million felt like an afterthought. Ohtani, of course, was the biggest prize. He will not pitch this season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. But he can still inspire hyperbole. Freeman suggested that when his career was over he would tell his grandchildren about playing with Ohtani, “just like we talk about Babe Ruth.”

The first step on the road to the purported promised land took place at Camelback Ranch three days after the Super Bowl. Crowds lined both sides of a path connecting the Dodgers clubhouse to a practice field for the team’s first workout. The speaker system blared a playlist that sounded as if it had not been updated since 2016. Reporters stood atop step-ladders. Fans lofted selfie sticks. A man hoisted a child onto his shoulders. The throngs pressed against the chain-link fence, desperate for a glimpse of Los Angeles’ newest lodestar. When Ohtani jogged to the field, the roar was loud enough to drown out the bridge of “I Knew You Were Trouble.” The soundtrack was fitting, at least to the team’s president.

“I don’t want to compare it to Taylor Swift, but I think it’s our equivalent, in terms of conversation,” Kasten said. “It’s just everywhere you look, people are talking about him.” Kasten framed the alliance as mutually beneficial. “He had been this outsized talent for the last six years. But I think pairing him with the size of the Dodger brand makes his impact and his visibility even larger than it has been, until now.”

Dave Roberts rounded a corner and spotted a mass of media in the shade of the grapefruit trees planted outside Camelback Ranch. There was the usual group of American and Japanese reporters. But the media relations staff had installed a riser so seven different camera crews could film the manager’s daily briefing without turning the crowd into a rugby scrum. Roberts has chosen to greet the amplified attention this year with the amplification of his own enthusiasm.

“Oh, wow!” Roberts said. “Look at this setup, huh?”

When Ohtani was introduced at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 15, he expressed confusion to Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis as he gazed out at rows and rows of attendees. Ohtani had been told only media would be there. Davis had to break it to Ohtani that the massive crowd was, in fact, just the media. A similar crush will greet Ohtani during the season, especially at these games in Seoul. The Dodgers are already covered by one of the larger domestic press contingents. The group now includes around a dozen Japanese reporters, tracking Ohtani’s exploits in granular detail, from the number of home runs he hits in batting practice to the larger meaning of a fist bump with Hernández. When Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register asked Ohtani in passing about his dog, Dekopin, Plunkett’s picture was plastered across Japanese newspapers.

Ohtani conducts group interviews once or twice a week. He rarely reveals much about himself. He values his privacy. Reporters have been discouraged from approaching Ohtani or Yamamoto for one-on-one conversations. The team preferred to hold the group sessions in front of a backdrop featuring advertising for Guggenheim. (The team’s uniforms also now include a Guggenheim patch.) For the players, the parade of reporters has wrought some genial irritation. The clubhouse is often barren when reporters are permitted inside.

“It’s just a lot of people,” pitcher Walker Buehler said. “They’ll ask you two questions about you, and then six about Ohtani. And you’ll be like, ‘You just baited me! You baited me into this. You guys got me.’”

The primary person who will deal with the scrutiny is Roberts. The courtship of Ohtani created unease for him. When Roberts decided at the Winter Meetings to reveal a Dodger Stadium sit-down with Ohtani — which no other official from any team involved in the sweepstakes had done previously — Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes declined to offer him much cover. The group patched things up later that week, but when the Dodgers introduced Ohtani, Roberts was not on the stage.

As Roberts spoke to the group beside the grapefruit trees, an intrepid eighth cameraman scaled a staircase leading toward the complex’s executive offices.

“Excuse me,” a security guard told the cameraman, “you have to come down from there.”

The cameraman pointed to a Dodgers official.

“Excuse me,” the guard repeated.

The cameraman pointed again. A team official walked over. “He’s with us,” the staffer explained. SportsNet LA, the team’s television network, has produced 10 seasons of “Backstage: Dodgers,” which offers lighthearted looks at the inner workings of the franchise. The guard was adamant. Regulations trumped content; eventually the cameraman left his perch and rejoined the scrum. Soon after, Friedman and members of his baseball operations department, clad in three-quarter-zip pullovers, descended the steps.

To some, Roberts occupies the hottest seat in the sport. Friedman has impregnable job security. The Ohtani deal features a provision called a “key man” clause. He can opt out of his contract if Friedman or Walter leaves the organization. The same protection does not apply to Roberts, whose contract runs through 2025. “If the highest preseason expectations in club history crash,” esteemed Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke wrote recently, “the Dodgers will need an easy target to take the blame, and that will be him.”

In eight seasons at the helm, Roberts has never won fewer than 91 games — except for the shortened 2020 season, when the club played at a 116-win pace. His .618 winning percentage is the best in Major League Baseball history. He would likely find a bevy of suitors for his services, especially in the wake of new Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s market-setting five-year, $40 million contract. Unlike Counsell, Roberts has actually won a World Series — even if his postseason resume contains its share of strategic misfires.

Roberts has described anything short of a championship in 2024 as a bust. Of course, he has spoken with that confidence before. He guaranteed the Dodgers would win the 2022 World Series. That team set a franchise record with 111 victories, but crashed out of the postseason in four games. The disappointment increased the motivation to add Ohtani. Before the season, Roberts suggested his players should worry less about external noise and concentrate on individual progress. Ignoring the noise, he acknowledged, will be tougher than ever.

“This year feels different because you’ve got, essentially, the best player on the planet,” Roberts said. He added, “People love beating the Yankees. And people love beating the Dodgers. When you put on this uniform, that’s what you sign up for. But this year, it’s a little bit more extreme.”

The most expensive pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball has never thrown a pitch in Major League Baseball. Whenever Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound this spring, the occasion merited monitoring. As he unveiled his arsenal in a bullpen session during the team’s first workout, a gaggle of reporters watched from a distance. Roberts, Friedman and various members of the coaching staff and front office stood behind the row of mounds. Standing behind the catcher, peering through a mesh-covered fence were Buehler, reliever Daniel Hudson and starter James Paxton. Each took a peek as Yamamoto spun curveballs and splitters along with his 95-mph fastball. “Everything just explodes out of his hand,” Paxton said a day later.

Yamamoto has been an object of fascination among big-league teams for years. The list of executives who traveled to Japan to watch him in 2023 included Friedman, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. After the season, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns made similar jaunts to court Yamamoto. The Yankees presented Yamamoto with his own No. 18 jersey in pinstripes.

His free agency sparked even greater zeal than expected. When the offseason began, some executives pegged Yamamoto in line for a contract worth about $200 million. As the price escalated, the Giants bowed out. The Yankees offered $300 million. So did the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers won the bidding by matching Cohen’s offer after Yamamoto met with Betts, Freeman and, of course, Ohtani.

Yamamoto represents the promise and the peril inherent in the Dodgers pitching staff. His stature is unremarkable; he stands 5-foot-10 and weighs about 175 pounds. He became elite through a focus on flexibility and unconventional activities like chucking a javelin. The transition from Japan to the major leagues can be challenging. During the winter, Yamamoto familiarized himself with the baseball used in the major leagues, which is smaller and slicker than its equivalent in Japan. During his spring debut, a center-field camera for SportsNet LA could capture the different grips of Yamamoto’s pitches.

The tipping discussion that followed did not prompt alterations to Yamamoto’s delivery. The organization expects him to lead its rotation, which will likely function as something resembling a six-man unit to provide breaks for the starters. The regulars may need the rest. Yamamoto has never pitched on the big-league schedule. Glasnow logged a career-high 120 innings last season. Paxton has thrown 117 2/3 innings since 2019. Buehler will not begin the season with the club as he attempts to return from his second Tommy John surgery. Clayton Kershaw hopes to rejoin the team by July or August as he recovers from the first surgery of his career, a corrective procedure on his left shoulder. The list of rehabbing pitchers at Camelback Ranch will include Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan and Tony Gonsolin.

Despite the uncertainty, the team expects its pitching to be excellent. The same cannot be said for its infield defense. A series of wayward throws by infielder Gavin Lux, who is returning from knee surgery, convinced the organization to play Betts at shortstop, a position Betts had handled in only 14 games in the first 10 years of his big-league career. Lux did not look much better after swapping places with Betts to play second base.

The overwhelming strength of the Dodgers, the propulsive force expected to vault the club past 100 victories yet again, will be the first three hitters in the lineup. Betts posted a .987 OPS last season with 39 homers and 40 doubles. Freeman put forth his usual output, with a .976 OPS, 29 homers and 59 doubles. Ohtani surpassed them both while pulling double duty as a pitcher: 44 home runs and a 1.066 OPS in an offense that provided scant protection. When executives around the sport grumble about the Dodgers, they are grumbling about the prospect of trying to shut down this trio, during a season in which Ohtani can concentrate on his hitting.

At one point this spring, Roberts compared Ohtani to the most talented teammate he had ever had. Near the end of his playing career, Roberts shared a clubhouse with Barry Bonds, the sport’s all-time home run leader, a slugger tarnished by his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs but revered by his peers for his talent. Ohtani, Roberts thought, might one day surpass Bonds — in ability, if not homers.

“Shohei,” Roberts said, “has a chance to be the best player ever.”

The people ringed the practice field, clicking cameras and lifting selfie sticks once more, as Ohtani settled into the batter’s box to face live pitching for the first time since his elbow surgery. One fan clutched a painted portrait of the world’s most famous designated hitter. This was several days after the first workout. The attention on Ohtani and the Dodgers had not slackened. If anything, it had intensified, and would only continue to do so.

For a decade, Kershaw acted as the gravitational force within the Dodgers clubhouse. The duo of Betts and Freeman supplied that presence in recent years. Given the magnitude of Ohtani’s fame, the ramifications of his contract and the extent of his ability, Ohtani must serve that role now. He has bonded with Hernández, a former American League West rival. Freeman pronounced himself amazed that Ohtani remembered the name of Freeman’s son, Charlie, after meeting the boy at last year’s All-Star Game.

“He seems to be holding onto his balance, to the extent he can,” Kasten said. “But it’s almost like, in America, he can escape. Because in Japan, he can’t. I’ve been there recently. He’s everywhere.”

When Ohtani announced his marriage, Japanese television stations interrupted their programming. The Dodgers intend to capitalize on that devotion. “One of our goals is to have baseball fans in Japan convert to Dodger blue,” Friedman said at Ohtani’s introductory press conference. That effort is unlikely to end with Ohtani and Yamamoto. The team is expected to make a full-pocketed pursuit of Rōki Sasaki, the 22-year-old right-handed phenom, whenever the Chiba Lotte Marines make him available. Visitors to Dodger Stadium can expect a bevy of new sponsorships decorating the ballpark. The prices of tickets to enter the ballpark are rising on the secondary market.

As Ohtani prepared to face his new teammates in batting practice, fans and reporters catalogued his movements. When he connected with a fastball from pitcher J.P. Feyereisen, the sound reverberated across the facility. The crowd gasped as the ball took flight. Ohtani watched it clear the center-field fence as he left the batter’s box. He peeled a pad off his surgically-repaired right arm, which remained sheathed in a compression sleeve. He jogged back toward the clubhouse, past the crowd screaming his name, one step closer to Opening Day.

The judgment on this first season of the 10-year union will not come until October. Ohtani has never experienced the MLB playoffs. The Dodgers never miss an invitation. The franchise embarked on this era hoping to accumulate flags to raise and banners to proclaim championships.

Anything less would be a failure.

(Top illustration by Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos by George Rose / Getty Images; Gene Wang / Getty Images; David Durochik/Diamond Images)

TEMPE, Ariz. – For the past six years, no matter how early the Angels players and staff arrived at Tempe Diablo Stadium, every morning they saw a crowd of Japanese media standing on Tempe Butte Mountain overlooking the team’s spring training complex. This was not a recreational sunrise hike. Every camera was zoomed in, waiting for the arrival of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

While spring training means early mornings for players, coaches and reporters, the group assigned exclusively to Ohtani made everyone else think twice about their red flags. Ohtani Watch started at 5am, when most of the Cactus League was still asleep. There were no free weekends and no wiggle room: everyone was looking for that one shot, every day, for the entire six weeks of camp.

“Good luck beating them here,” Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon said of a group that routinely consisted of 50 reporters and could swell to more than 70 for special Ohtani occasions, such as his first-ever press conference during spring training, that the team had to keep. stay in an off-site hotel for crowd control.

“They said they had to be here,” Angels bench coach Ray Montgomery said, shaking his head. “I asked why, and they said in case Ohtani showed up early.”

Ohtani’s enormous celebrity and the attention that came with it never calmed down. When he came to Tempe in 2018 as a 23-year-old Japanese star, no one was sure how Ohtani’s talents as a pitcher and hitter would translate. There is no doubt that the three-time All-Star, two-time AL MVP, two-time Silver Slugger and Rookie of the Year is a generational talent.

Ohtani’s star power now resides 26 miles away at the Dodgers camp in Glendale. If you’ve been living under a rock, the Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract last offseason. If you’ve lived near Tempe Buttes, the view just got a lot better.

So what happens when the mountain is empty again? What is life like when the Ohtani circus leaves town?

“Someone said in recent years that maybe this was what it was like to be with the Beatles,” Rendon said. “You don’t get used to (the attention), but you expect it. Now it’s like being kicked out of the band.”

The biggest change, other than the fact that no one saw the team members getting in and out of their cars, happened in the clubhouse. It is and has always been the players’ space. But when Ohtani was there, that huge contingent of reporters made some Angels players feel like guests in their own home.

“It’s nice to get our space back a little bit more,” Angels outfielder Taylor Ward said.

Losing a nine-WAR player doesn’t make any team better. But it made them breathe a little easier.

“Sometimes players were intimidated by a lot of media,” said Carlos Estévez, the Angels’ veteran closer. “A few younger guys. They said, ‘I’ll stay away.’”

Pitcher Patrick Sandoval was one of Ohtani’s closest friends, but even he acknowledged it was a “weird dynamic” to have the Japanese reporters ask him one question about himself, and then 10 more questions about Ohtani. If cameras even caught you nodding to the superstar, the media would ask you to talk about it.

“I always felt that (players were wary of us). We are actually here to cover one man, but we are trying to get other cases related to that one man,” said a Japanese reporter who has regularly covered Ohtani for years and requested anonymity to speak freely.

The Angels PR staff, often inundated with requests, tried to rotate which players they asked to speak about Ohtani, who usually limited his media availability until after his mound had begun. Angels communications manager Grace McNamee, who speaks Japanese, would take notes on Ohtani’s unique schedule and coordinate photo opportunities.

With Ohtani gone, “I’ve never seen Grace so relaxed,” Montgomery said.

A year ago, there was barely enough room to walk down the alley-like hallway in the Angels’ spring training locker room. Now catcher Matt Thaiss and fellow backstop Chad Wallach have enough room there on a March morning to toss a football back and forth as part of an impromptu fielding drill.

Gone are the Ohtani signs and stadium paraphernalia from the stadium and around Tempe. But if you’re one of the thousands of fans who made Ohtani’s jersey the bestseller in all of baseball last year, fear not: It’s still in active Angels circulation.

Ohtani’s number – the famous red and white number 17 – now belongs to…drumroll, please…non-rostered invitee Hunter Dozier, who has a career minus 2.6 WAR, or wins above replacement. Dozier wore No. 17 for almost his entire seven-year career with the Kansas City Royals and signed a minor league deal with Anaheim in mid-January. In the weeks before spring training started, he started wondering: Would the Angels give it away so quickly?

He got his answer on the first day of camp. The 32-year-old utility man emphasized that number 17 has no special meaning for him; it was exactly what the Royals gave him when he started his career.

Now, that number could make him one of the hottest non-roster invitees in Tempe Diablo Stadium history.

“There could be a lot of 17s (in the stands),” said Dozier, who has already been transferred to minor league camp, meaning he won’t make the Angels’ Opening Day roster. “Just don’t look at the last name, but at the number.”

And don’t look too close in the left corner of the clubhouse.

Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers was surprised when he arrived at camp expecting to be in his normal locker — only to find he was given Ohtani’s old space directly to the left of the clubhouse door. Each end spot in baseball clubhouses is typically occupied by veterans and stars, allowing for plenty of room (they often use the locker next to it for overflow) and a quick exit from the media.

“It was a bit sad,” Detmers said. “But at the same time it was pretty cool. Obviously it’s a great locker, and Shohei was incredible. Great guy. Easy to talk to. Talk to him about anything. It is special to have his old locker.”

This spring, Angels Camp has provided ample parking, increased ticket availability and a smaller crowd of autograph seekers. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

What has quickly lost its appeal are the incessant questions about The Guy Who Ain’t Here. The Angels players, who were still dealing with daily Ohtani questions all spring, had much bigger questions heading into camp, such as: Will there still be sushi?

Each spring, the Angels send a survey to players to gauge their nutritional wants and needs for the upcoming season. Without Ohtani, several players feared that the steady flow of Japanese cuisine would slow to a trickle, leaving the question: “Are we still going to eat sushi?” a common registration question. The answer was yes. Ohtani wasn’t actually the biggest daily sushi consumer on the team; that title probably belongs to Mike Trout or Logan O’Hoppe.

Trout is also the only current Angels player who remembers Life Without Ohtani, and the fact that Ohtani’s arrival in 2018 didn’t actually result in more sushi, or any other food at the team’s spring facility. Ohtani had a nutritionist in Japan who communicated with the Angels staff during an early meeting. During the season he often brought his own food. In Tempe, one of Ohtani’s first English statements to staffers was: “I’m good.”

After a disappointing 2020 season, Ohtani used blood analysis to determine which foods produced his best results and optimized his recovery. The timing was equally crucial. Working on a fairly tight schedule, his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara often sent order requests ahead to the Angels’ kitchen staff so that Ohtani’s food – a rotating menu that always included lean proteins, vegetables and carbohydrates – would be ready when it was needed, which was rarely . during the players’ lunch rush. Ohtani’s schedule was so unique that he often ate with just Mizuhara and infielder David Fletcher.

Still, Ohtani’s absence will be felt in the dining room. Last year he brought Japanese Wagyu beef to the kitchen a few times to cook for the team. Several angels mourned the loss.

Aside from potential iron deficiencies, everything is a little calmer for the Angels post-Ohtani. There is plenty of parking at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Tickets are easy to obtain. The signature lines for players entering and leaving the stadium are minuscule compared to previous years. The Angels’ senior guard focused much of his attention on Ohtani and the crowd of fans and reporters entering and exiting his court. Even Mizuhara often had fans with signs waiting for him as he exited the team bus. As one player described it, there is much less commotion now.

“He brings such an audience, not a bad thing, because of the way he handled himself on the field,” Trout said.

‘I’ve never been around someone so big. I don’t think baseball has seen anyone that big,” Rendon said. “It was weird, right? In hotels and other places, many people would try to find him.

Now the eyes that track Ohtani’s movements have been shipped to Los Angeles. Just a short drive, but a world away.

(Top image: John Bradford / The Athletics; Photos: Aaron Doster/Getty; Michael Owens/Getty)

As Jonah Heim squeezed the final strike of the 2023 postseason and Josh Sborz spiked his mitt on the mound to celebrate the Texas Rangers’ first World Series title, a thought crossed my mind: How will this change the franchise rankings?

See, the Wild-Card Era (1995 to present) franchise rankings are not a creation of my fallible mind. They are borne from a tested, trusted, completely objective, never-been-questioned, all-math, no-bias formula borrowed from football writer Bob Sturm and tweaked to fit baseball’s postseason structure.

Winning the World Series (WS): 9 points
Losing in the World Series (WSL): 6 points
Losing in the Championship Series (CS): 3 points
Losing in Division Series (DS): 2 points
Losing in Wild Card (WC): 1 point

As of last year, the scoring system also incentivizes division titles (+1 point) and penalizes prolonged losing cycles, docking teams (-1 point) each time they lose at least 90 games in consecutive seasons.

Tally the point totals for the past 29 seasons, from 1995 to 2023, and the result is the franchise rankings as listed below — along with each team’s point totals from the past decade, and average points per season. Tiebreakers are World Series wins, then World Series losses, then Championship Series appearances, then Division Series appearances, then division titles.

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The Pirates’ 76-86 season in 2023 didn’t dig their hole deeper, but it didn’t get them out of it, either. Since winning the 1979 World Series, they have reached the postseason six times — three-year runs from 1990-92 and 2013-15. The team is hoping its next core will author another such run. After signing Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Mitch Keller to extensions, the Pirates need continued progression from young big leaguers — Oneil Cruz, Jack Suwinki, Henry Davis — and top prospects Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Termarr Johnson.

Total playoff years: 13DS, 14WC, 15WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

8

Last decade: 1 point (MLB rank: t-26th)

Average: -.14 points per season

The Royals bottomed out at 106 losses last season, tying the 2005 Royals for most losses in franchise history, and fell to 29th in this year’s franchise ranking as they were vaulted by the Orioles. After seven consecutive losing seasons, the Royals clearly are trying to turn a corner now. This winter, they guaranteed Bobby Witt Jr. $288.7 million, filled out their bench and pitching staff with free agents, and unveiled plans for a proposed downtown Kansas City ballpark. This fall marks a decade since the Royals ended their 29-year playoff drought and reached the World Series — then won it a year later. It remains the case that no team has made the playoffs fewer times in the Wild-Card Era than the Royals.

Total playoff years: 14WSL, 15WS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

9

Last decade: 14 points (MLB rank: t-10th)

Average: .24 points per season

With the Detroit Lions defeating the Los Angeles Rams in January for their first playoff win since 1992, the Reds now own the longest active streak of not advancing in the playoffs among the four major US men’s sports leagues. Cincinnati swept the Dodgers in the 1995 NLDS, then were swept by the Braves in the NLCS, and they haven’t advanced in any of their four playoff seasons since. The current Reds core has a chance to remove themselves from that trivia answer. The lineup has several potential stars and only one projected starter over the age of 28.

Total playoff years: 95CS, 10DS, 12DS, 13WC, 20WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: -2 points (MLB rank: 30th)

The Orioles jumped two spots in this ranking by winning 101 games and the AL East last year, even if their playoff run fizzled fast. Adley Rutschman was AL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2022, Gunnar Henderson won the award in 2023, and now top prospect Jackson Holliday is one of the favorites to win in 2024. The Orioles still have the best farm system in baseball, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law, even after trading top-100 prospect Joey Ortiz and former top-100 prospect DL Hall to Milwaukee for former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes.

Total playoff years: 96CS, 97CS, 12DS, 14CS, 16WC, 23DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

8

Last decade: 7 points (MLB rank: t-19th)

The Blue Jays are one of a few teams toward the bottom of this list that would fare better if this exercise included the entire 1990s instead of starting in 1995. Toronto won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, but didn’t return to the playoffs for another 21 years. Though the Blue Jays have been a playoff team five times in the past nine seasons, including 2023, they’ve been swept in the Wild-Card Series in their last three tries. Even after failing to land a premier free agent this offseason, the Blue Jays have the bats, gloves and arms to be a division winner in 2024 — but so do three other teams in the AL East.

Total playoff years: 15CS, 16CS, 20WC, 22WC, 23WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade: 10 points (MLB rank: 15th)

The Rockies stayed in the same spot in the franchise rankings but were deducted a point for having back-to-back 90-loss seasons. They chased 94 losses in 2022 with 103 in 2023 — their first triple-digit loss total in franchise history. Todd Helton is a Hall of Famer, bringing back memories of the Rockies’ magical run to the 2007 World Series. The other bit of good news is that Nolan Jones could be a certified star in Colorado. But this doesn’t look like it’ll be the Rockies’ year to win their first division title. FanGraphs has their current playoff odds at 0.1 percent; their odds of winning the NL West, however, are 0.0 percent.

Total playoff years: 95DS, 07WSL, 09DS, 17WC, 18DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: 1 point (MLB rank: t-26th)

The Brewers won their division last season yet still have the same points total. What gives? Well, time for a mea culpa. In auditing and updating the franchise rankings spreadsheet last month, I discovered an error. From 2001 to 2004, the Brewers lost 94, 106, 94 and 94 games, respectively, so they should have been deducted three points. I had only deducted one. To Brewers fans: I regret the error, just as the Brewers surely regret that era. As The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner wrote recently, Milwaukee has not finished last in their division since 2004. The Brewers have never won a World Series and have only one pennant (1982), but they’re reliably solid in a small market. They are now without Corbin Burnes, but they still have plenty of talent on the roster, plus Law’s No. 2 farm system.

Total playoff years: 08DS, 11CS, 18CS, 19WC, 20WC, 21DS, 23WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: 11 points (MLB rank: 14th)

The Mariners had the pieces to be a playoff team again last season, having already exorcized demons in 2023 to end a two-decade postseason drought. But after getting hot in the second half Seattle stumbled in September and was eliminated from the playoffs with one game left in the season. On paper, they have one of the league’s best pitching staffs for 2024. The lineup still features Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford, but it has been overhauled with the additions of a new Mitch (Garver), an old Mitch (Haniger), Luke Raley and Jorge Polanco in hopes of getting more runs and fewer whiffs.

Total playoff years: 95CS, 97DS, 00CS, 01CS, 22DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

2

Last decade: 2 points (MLB rank: t-25th)

Never let it be said that this franchise-ranking formula doesn’t punish teams that subject their fans to prolonged down cycles (see also: Brewers blurb). The Nats/Expos lost five points for consecutive 90-loss seasons in the 1990s and 2000s, which they more than made up for with five playoff seasons (and a World Series title) in the 2010s. But their current rebuild has cost them another two points. There were some positive signs last year, like Lane Thomas’ 20-20 season, CJ Abrams’ second half and the law firm of (Josiah) Gray and (MacKenzie) Gore figuring some things out. Next, we await the arrival of top prospects Dylan Crews, James Wood and Brady House.

Total playoff years: 12DS, 14DS, 16DS, 17DS, 19WS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

7

Last decade: 16 points (MLB rank: 8th)

I ended last year’s blurb this way: Unless Luis Arraez bats .400, offense will likely be an issue again in 2023. He flirted with .400 until July! Offense was indeed an issue, one the Marlins addressed by adding Josh Bell and Jake Burger at the trade deadline. Losing Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara to Tommy John surgery was a massive blow softened by the performances of Jesús Luzardo, Eury Pérez and Braxton Garrett as the Marlins secured a wild-card spot. The Marlins have never won their division, and odds are against that changing in 2024, but they have enough intriguing talent to stay on the fringe of the playoff picture.

Total playoff years: 97WS, 03WS, 20DS, 23WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

5

Last decade: 1 point (MLB rank: t-26th)

Believers in positive regression will find no finer team to back than the 2024 Padres. The club’s late owner, Peter Seidler, spent big in his final years to bring a World Series to San Diego, and so cutting payroll was a priority this offseason. The team is now without one of the best hitters (Juan Soto), starters (Blake Snell) and closers (Josh Hader) in the game. The amount of talent they’ve lost is staggering, underscoring how strange it was to see them come up short in 2023. The lineup still has Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts locked in long-term and Ha-Seong Kim in the fold for another season. The rotation has Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, depth replenished in the Soto trade and now, after A.J. Preller’s Wednesday night blockbuster, another ace-caliber starter: Dylan Cease.

Total playoff years: 96DS, 98WSL, 05DS, 06DS, 20DS, 22CS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

4

Last decade: 2 points (MLB rank: t-24th)

The Tigers took a surprising second place in the AL Central last season, their best finish since 2016, though few confused them for a contender. They saw encouraging signs in 2023 from Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene (when healthy), Kerry Carpenter and several pitchers, especially Tarik Skubal. They’ve added a handful of veterans this offseason — Mark Canha, Gio Urshela, Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, Shelby Miller and Andrew Chafin — and have a couple top prospects approaching the majors. Better days should be ahead for an organization that hasn’t gained a franchise-ranking point (and, in fact, has lost two) since 2014.

Total playoff years: 06WSL, 11CS, 12WSL, 13CS, 14DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

7

Last decade: 1 point (MLB rank: t-26th)

We begin the way we always do, with an updated win/loss record since the 2007 name change.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 645-972 (.399)

Tampa Bay Rays: 1,366-1,125 (.548)

The 2023 Rays raced out to a record-setting start and still managed to win 99 games despite being without star shortstop Wander Franco and losing starters Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs to elbow surgeries. They’ve continued team-building their way this winter — prioritizing young regulars and undervalued platoon players and relievers — and will, in all likelihood, be a handful for the rest of the AL East in 2024.

Total playoff years: 08WSL, 10DS, 11DS, 13DS, 19DS, 20WSL, 21DS, 22WC, 23WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

9

Last decade: 14 points (MLB rank: t-10th)

When writing a year ago “it’s hard to argue the White Sox are better than they were in 2022, and their farm system is one of the weakest in baseball,” I somehow still fell woefully short of predicting their 2023 season. The White Sox self-destructed. They fired Ken Williams and Rick Hahn, lost 101 games and moved seven veterans at the trade deadline. The positive outcome is that the farm system no longer stinks. Law ranked them 10th and noted, “This is about as good as their system has ever looked.” The same cannot be said of their major-league roster. The White Sox have had consecutive 90-loss seasons only once since 1995; they’re projected to add a second this season. They are playing for the future, as evidenced by the Dylan Cease trade Wednesday night.

Total playoff years: 00DS, 05WS, 08DS, 20WC, 21DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

1

Last decade: 3 points (MLB rank: t-22nd)

The Mets haven’t advanced in the playoffs since their pennant-winning 2015 season. After the Mets won 101 games in 2022, the 2023 season saw Edwin Díaz injured, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer traded, and the Mets missing the playoffs by nine games. They still have the highest payroll in the game, but expectations are lower this season. Spring training started with a sour note as Kodai Senga was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain. FanGraphs gives the Braves a 98.6 percent chance of making the playoffs, the Phillies at 59 percent and the Marlins and Mets tied at 29.5 percent.

Total playoff years: 99CS, 00WSL, 06CS, 15WSL, 16WC, 22WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

1

Last decade: 9 points (MLB rank: 16th)

The Twins blew some long-standing narratives to smithereens last fall by ending their 18-game postseason losing streak and sweeping the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series. Then they lost Sonny Gray to free agency, traded Jorge Polanco and cut payroll. They remain the favorite in the AL Central — a division they’ve won three of the past five years — but may be leaving the door open. The Pablo López-led rotation has upside; Jhoan Duran and the bullpen are nasty; and a lineup that starts with Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Max Kepler is likely to do some serious damage.

Total playoff years: 02CS, 03DS, 04DS, 06DS, 09DS, 10DS, 17WC, 19DS, 20WC, 23DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

6

Last decade: 8 points (MLB rank: t-17th)

Before 2022, the A’s hadn’t endured a 100-loss season since 1979. Now they’ve done it two years in a row for the first time since 1964-65. They lost a rankings point for that, dropped one spot in the rankings and will surely continue in that downward direction. Law ranked their farm system last. In 2023, Brent Rooker had an early breakout, Ryan Noda and Zack Gelof emerged and Esteury Ruiz led the AL with 67 steals. But overshadowing all of that in Oakland is the team’s desire to flee to Las Vegas and fans’ attempts to make their objections heard.

Total playoff years: 00DS, 01DS, 02DS, 03DS, 06CS, 12DS, 13DS, 14WC, 18WC, 19WC, 20DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

2

Last decade: 4 points (MLB rank: 21st)

Let’s break down the Wild-Card Era Angels by decade.

1995-99: 387-405 (.489)

2000s: 900-720 (.556)

2010s: 822-798 (.507)

2020s: 176-208 (.458)

Just as I suspected. The Angels are feeling rather fourth place-ish. They haven’t had a winning record since 2015 (their last “of Anaheim” season), haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, and haven’t won a playoff game since 2009. A 2023 recap: Arte Moreno didn’t sell the team, and GM Perry Minasian didn’t trade Shohei Ohtani before the season, didn’t trade him after the season, made a big bet as a trade deadline buyer and lost. Now the Angels trudge toward whatever is next. They have Mike Trout and Law’s 29th-ranked farm system, and no Ohtani.

Total playoff years: 02WS, 04DS, 05CS, 07DS, 08DS, 09CS, 14DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade: 3 points (MLB rank: t-22nd)

The Cubs hold the third tiebreaker (Championship Series appearances) over the Angels but were knocked out of the top 10 this year after being jumped by the Diamondbacks and Rangers. The Cubs ended the 2023 season one game back of a wild-card spot. The Chicago roster, though, hasn’t changed substantially since. They lost Marcus Stroman, brought back Cody Bellinger, traded for Michael Busch and signed Shota Imanaga and Héctor Neris. They also have the No. 5 farm system, per Law. The NL Central race should be compelling; FanGraphs projects all five teams between 77 and 84 wins.

Total playoff years: 98DS, 03CS, 07DS, 08DS, 15CS, 16WS, 17CS, 18WC, 20WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: 20 points (MLB rank: 4th)

Snakes alive. They climbed three spots in this year’s ranking. They also didn’t exist at the start of the Wild-Card Era, so if we look at their average points per season they rank 10th, ahead of the Phillies by 0.01. Indeed, here come the D-Backs. They may not have won the offseason like the division-rival Dodgers, but they have Corbin Carroll and Zac Gallen and enough talent surrounding them to make noise again in 2024. As for the new arrivals: Eduardo Rodríguez fortifies a rotation that could have used one more starter last fall, Eugenio Suárez gives Arizona more thump at third base, and Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk are mix-and-match platoon options at DH and in the outfield.

Total playoff years: 99DS, 01WS, 02DS, 07CS, 11DS, 17DS, 23WSL

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

1

Last decade: 8 points (MLB rank: t-17th)

The Phillies in the past two years have played in a World Series and come one win short of appearing in another. After flailing for most of the 2010s, they’ve built a formidable core and so far have spent to keep it mostly intact. They let Rhys Hoskins walk in free agency this winter but brought back Aaron Nola and extended Zack Wheeler. This is more or less a run-it-back year for Philadelphia. They have the horses, and they have them healthy for now. But they’ll need to click from the jump if the Phillies are going to win their first division title since 2011.

Total playoff years: 07DS, 08WS, 09WSL, 10CS, 11DS, 22WSL, 23CS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: 7 points (MLB rank: t-19th)

A World Series title doesn’t guarantee you a top-10 spot in the franchise rankings, but the nine points the Rangers bagged for winning their first ring last fall got them there. It was far from an ideal season for Texas. Jacob deGrom made only six starts before suffering an elbow injury. Nathan Eovaldi and Corey Seager both missed significant time in the regular season. The team fell out of first place and nearly lost their wild-card spot. But Seager, Adolis García, Josh Jung and Evan Carter led the Rangers lineup in October, and the pitching arms of Eovaldi, Jordan Montgomery, José Leclerc and Josh Sborz did the rest. There are reasons to doubt the Rangers in 2024, but they’re about as good as they were last spring.

Total playoff years: 96DS, 98DS, 99DS, 10WSL, 11WSL, 12WC, 15DS, 16DS, 23WS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

2

Last decade: 14 points (MLB rank: t-10th)

The Guardians couldn’t give Tito Francona a storybook finish to his likely Hall of Fame career. They played .500 ball in the first half, were 10 games worse than that in the second half and finished third (or lower) in the AL Central for the first time since 2015. Their overall position on this list is incredibly respectable, especially since they’re the only one of the top 13 teams without a World Series title juicing their numbers. The Guardians have made the playoffs 13 times in the 29 years of the Wild-Card Era, won the division 11 times and captured three pennants. With José Ramírez, a young cast of hitters and a strong pitching staff, the Guardians have a shot at the AL Central crown this season.

Total playoff years: 95WSL, 96DS, 97WSL, 98CS, 99DS, 01DS, 07CS, 13WC, 16WSL, 17DS, 18DS, 20WC, 22DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

1

Last decade: 17 points (MLB rank: t-6th)

Three World Series titles will take you a long way, so the Giants are still sitting pretty here at No. 7 despite not seeing much playoff success since 2014. They backslid from 107 wins in 2021 to 81 in 2022 to 79 in 2023, leading to manager Gabe Kapler’s ouster. This offseason they signed Jordan Hicks, Jorge Soler and Jung Hoo Lee, traded for former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, who’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and waited out the market to land free agent Matt Chapman on a remarkably palatable three-year contract with two opt-outs. The Giants, however, still seem undermanned as they face an uphill climb in a division led by the Dodgers and the defending NL champs in Arizona.

Total playoff years: 97DS, 00DS, 02WSL, 03DS, 10WS, 12WS, 14WS, 16DS, 21DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

1

Last decade: 14 points (MLB rank: t-10th)

Houston has reached the ALCS in seven consecutive seasons, played in four World Series and twice — including 2023 — fallen one win short. They are tied with the Dodgers for most points in the past decade; Houston holds the tiebreaker. They’d be in the top five in this year’s franchise rankings if not for the three points deducted for 90-loss seasons in the early 2010s. For now, they’re well clear of the Giants and Guardians and nipping at the heels of the Red Sox. In 2024, the Astros return almost the same lineup as last season, but with an offensive upgrade at catcher in Yainer Díaz. They’ll have Justin Verlander back in the rotation, once healthy. And they have two top-end closers in Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly.

Total playoff years: 97DS, 98DS, 99DS, 01DS, 04CS, 05WSL, 15DS, 17WS, 18CS, 19WSL, 20CS, 21WSL, 22WS, 23CS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

3

Last decade: 46 points (MLB rank: t-1st)

The long-term organizational momentum the Red Sox built with four World Series titles in the past 20 years has stalled. They’ve finished last in the AL East the past two seasons, with identical 78-84 records, and now they have a new chief baseball officer, Craig Breslow, but not a significantly upgraded roster. The Red Sox have strong left-handed hitters but could use some thunder from the right side at Fenway Park. With free-agent add Lucas Giolito out for the season, Boston needs another starter or two to lead the pitching staff alongside Brayan Bello. There’s still time to start spending, but the Red Sox so far have shown no urgency.

Total playoff years: 95DS, 98DS, 99CS, 03CS, 04WS, 05DS, 07WS, 08CS, 09DS, 13WS, 16DS, 17DS, 18WS, 21CS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade: 19 points (MLB rank: 5th)

This wasn’t necessarily the top headline of the Dodgers’ offseason, but they finally ran down the Red Sox and stole fourth place in the franchise rankings. They are a Death Star. The Dodgers have an 11-year playoff streak going, with 10 division titles in that stretch. If the franchise rankings covered only the past decade, the Dodgers would be tied with the Astros at No. 1. They’ve operated at a 102-win clip in manager Dave Roberts’ eight years in Los Angeles, and all of that was before they added [huge breath] Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton and Teoscar Hernández, and re-signed Clayton Kershaw, Jason Heyward and Kiké Hernández. Probably a team to watch in 2024.

Total playoff years: 95DS, 96DS, 04DS, 06DS, 08CS, 09CS, 13CS, 14DS, 15DS, 16CS, 17WSL, 18WSL, 19DS, 20WS, 21CS, 22DS, 23DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade: 46 points (MLB rank: t-1st)

No movement in our top three for 2024, but a couple teams are in striking distance of the Cardinals this season. After three consecutive wild-card exits, St. Louis had a deeply disappointing 2023, finishing 71-91. It was their first losing season since 2007, and their first 90-loss season since 1990. The Cardinals overhauled their pitching staff this winter, bringing in veterans Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge. The talent in their lineup is still eye-popping, so with halfway decent pitching and positive regression from a few hitters the Cardinals could be back in 2024.

Total playoff years: 96CS, 00CS, 01DS, 02CS, 04WSL, 05CS, 06WS, 09DS, 11WS, 12CS, 13WSL, 14CS, 15DS, 19CS, 20WC, 21WC, 22WC

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade: 15 points (MLB rank: 9th)

The only one of our top three teams to reach the postseason in 2023, the Braves won the NL East for the sixth consecutive season before bowing out again in the NLDS. They’ve already won a World Series in this competitive window, but it feels like they’ve left a lot on the table. The good news for Braves fans, and bad for most others, is the team’s current core isn’t going anywhere. The Braves have built a behemoth without a top-five payroll, as reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II all have agreed to long-term extensions.

Total playoff years: 95WS, 96WSL, 97CS, 98CS, 99WSL, 00DS, 01CS, 02DS, 03DS, 04DS, 05DS, 10DS, 12WC, 13DS, 18DS, 19DS, 20CS, 21WS, 22DS, 23DS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

2

Last decade: 24 points (MLB rank: 3rd)

The Yankees are still the class of the Wild-Card Era, though they certainly haven’t been baseball’s top franchise recently. The overall body of work is immensely impressive: In the 29 seasons included in this exercise, the Yankees have 24 playoff berths, 15 division titles, seven AL pennants and five World Series titles. (Only one title and pennant, however, in the past two decades.) In 2023, the Yankees narrowly avoided their first losing season since 1992, but their 80 losses still were their most of the Wild-Card Era. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and Carlos Rodón all missed significant time with injury. Gerrit Cole was the AL Cy Young and also the Yankees’ only reliable starter last season, but now there’s uncertainty regarding his health for 2024. The Yankees will have Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo across the outfield. They added Marcus Stroman to the rotation. We’ll see if that’s enough.

Total playoff years: 95DS, 96WS, 97DS, 98WS, 99WS, 00WS, 01WSL, 02DS, 03WSL, 04CS, 05DS, 06DS, 07DS, 09WS, 10CS, 11DS, 12CS, 15WC, 17CS, 18DS, 19CS, 20DS, 21WC, 22CS

Consecutive 90-loss seasons

0

Last decade (since 2014): 17 points (MLB rank: t-6th)

(Top illustration by Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos by Justin Berl / Getty Images; Rob Tringali / Sportschrome; Matt Dirksen / Getty Images; Brian Blanco / Getty Images) 

Shortly after working his way out of free agent purgatory and signing a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kiké Hernández asked his wife Mariana to explore another market. She contacted Dodger Rich Hill’s former wife, Caitlin, with a request: Could the Hernándezes live in the Hills’ home again?

The Hills had purchased the property, located in the Toluca Lake neighborhood, in 2017, shortly after Rich signed a $48 million contract. The family decided not to sell it after Hill’s final season with the team in 2019. The house has since become a popular destination among Dodgers personnel. Catcher Austin Barnes lived there for one season. Manager Dave Roberts has inquired about its availability. When Hernández rejoined the team at the trade deadline last year, he moved into the home, which is just a 20-minute drive from Dodger Stadium with access to three different highways.

“It’s very attractive because of the location,” Hill said.

But that’s not the only selling point; Almost as important is that the homeowner understands the nomadic baseball lifestyle of his tenants.

When looking for a place to live, players often rely on each other’s recommendations, connections and familiarity with baseball’s unique schedule and travel. That has led to a different kind of market each winter, in which ballplayers buy, sell and trade homes among themselves – swapping houses, directing young players to the right places and passing on certain key properties as the cycle repeats.

It is not unusual for players to report to spring training without a place to stay before the regular season. Sometimes free agents sign later than expected; sometimes transactions happen without warning. In the final days of February, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Justin Turner was still looking for a rental deal in the Toronto suburbs to sync up with his one-year, $13 million contract. Caleb Ferguson, a New York Yankees reliever acquired in early February, was looking for a place on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with a park nearby for his newborn son. Surprised by a trade from the Miami Marlins on Feb. 11, Minnesota Twins reliever Steven Okert said he had “no idea” where he would live in the Twin Cities. “I’ve never been there,” Okert said.

The main problem is the length of the lease. The regular season lasts approximately six months. Renting a house often requires a longer commitment. “It’s always tough,” Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu said. He described the process of finding housing as “during my time in professional baseball, one of the hardest things to do,” which is why his wife Jordan is handling it. Spouses often bear the burden: Yency Almonte, the reliever traded from the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs in January, will live this summer in the Chicagoland home of Joe Kelly, the reliever traded last year from the Chicago White Sox to the Dodgers summer; their wives brokered the deal.

During the off-season, LeMahieu lives in the Michigan suburb of Birmingham, Michigan, where he owns two homes. He has been renting out the second home to various Tigers for almost ten years. So many players have stayed there that LeMahieu has lost track. The first tenant was second baseman Ian Kinsler. The longest-standing resident was pitcher Daniel Norris. “I think they all left the places better than they found them,” LeMahieu said. “I came back and there were new things. Super clean. I thought, ‘Wow, this turned out really well.’”

In 2022, his final year in Milwaukee, reliever Brent Suter was living in a house once occupied by former Brewers teammate Corey Knebel. Suter rented a townhouse through VRBO for his 2023 season with the Colorado Rockies. When he signed with his hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds, through 2024, Suter didn’t have to look for a home. But he had the baseball player network to thank for that.

A few years earlier, while pitching for Cincinnati, Wade Miley bought a four-bedroom house in nearby Anderson Township, Ohio. An older couple started building on a lot across the street. Miley eventually discovered that his new neighbors were Suter’s in-laws. He called his former teammate. “When I’m done with the Reds, I’ll sell you this house,” Miley told Suter. Suter laughed at the offer. When Cincinnati placed Miley on waivers after the 2021 season, Suter received another text: “Go check out the house. We will open the garage for you.” Miley, Suter explained, “connected us to our dream home for life.”

During his time with the Cleveland Guardians, first baseman Carlos Santana lived in Bratenahl, Ohio, an affluent suburb on the shores of Lake Erie. After Santana signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies heading into 2018, he rented his home to former teammate Edwin Encarnación. Santana didn’t last long in Philadelphia. The Phillies shipped him to the Seattle Mariners in December 2018. Less than two weeks later, the Mariners traded Santana to Cleveland – in exchange for Encarnación. Santana moved back to his old house.

Edwin Encarnación and Carlos Santana were Cleveland teammates in 2017. Then things got more complicated. (Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Don’t feel totally sorry for these athletes, who play in a league where the minimum salary in the major leagues is $740,000. Teams provide them with resources, recommendations and brokers. Their own agents often do the same. The collective labor agreement contains provisions that compensate them for their living costs if cuts are made or traded.

Their privilege still brings complications, and not every casual exchange ends happily. In the summer of 2005, the Boston Red Sox acquired an infielder named Alex Cora from Cleveland in exchange for fellow infielder Ramón Vázquez. The two Puerto Ricans were friends. They agreed to trade houses. “The price was the same,” Cora said. He lived in a four-bedroom, two-story house with a garden. He was stunned when he moved into Vázquez’s apartment near Faneuil Hall. “It was a one-bedroom matchbox,” Cora said.

The dollar is stretching further away from the coasts. Ferguson, the Yankees reliever, grew up about 20 minutes outside Columbus, Ohio, home of Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate. He dreams of renting his house there to one of the Clippers. He joked about his willingness to pay utilities for potential tenants as long as they paid his mortgage. “I don’t want to make any money from you, I just don’t want to lose it,” Ferguson said.

Rich Hill came into his role as the Dodgers’ landlord. During the 2021 season, Hill learned that Barnes commuted about two hours each way to the ballpark. Barnes and his wife Nicole had a newborn son. The driving was exhausting. Hill said his Toluca Lake home was empty. “It’s a very nice house,” Barnes said. “He just let us live there.”

Barnes was luckier than Roberts, who found the house occupied when he asked Hill if he wanted to rent it. Hernández suffered the same fate after signing his new contract with the Dodgers. Hill already rented it to a family before 2024. It turns out that non-ball players need homes, too.

“As much as I want to rent it to the guys,” Hill said, “I can’t kick out the people who are there now.”

(The Athletics‘s Fabian Ardaya, Chad Jennings, Zack Meisel, C. Trent Rosecrans and Sahadev Sharma contributed to this report.)

(Illustration by Dan Goldfarb / The Athletics; Photo by Kiké Hernández: Michael Zagaris / Oakland Athletics / Getty Images; Photo by Rich Hill: Will Newton / Getty Images; Photo of Wade Miley: Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire)

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Mookie Betts continues to raise the bar. He talked about last season Want to be a Hall of Famer. His latest goal: to become, in his words, “a legend in the game.”

Betts, 31, made that statement in an interview I conducted with him for Fox Sports on Tuesday. I asked him, after winning two World Series and an MVP award, what keeps him going at this stage of his career. What motivates him. What drives him.

“My family, obviously,” said Betts, who is married and has two children. “But then just a drive within myself to just be great. I want to be great. When I’m done, I want you to keep in mind not necessarily just the baseball player, but also Mookie. I want to be a legend in the game.

“How I create that, I have no idea. I’m just going to get on with it and put a smile on people’s faces when I can, try to sign autographs when I can, be the best player I can be when I play, be the best teammate I can be .

“Whatever comes my way, I’m just going to try to be the best at it, no matter what. When it comes to the bench, I want to be the best cheerleader. Whatever it is. I think if I can do that, I feel like it creates some kind of legacy that I can leave behind. You won’t remember all the things on the field, but I definitely want people to remember who Mookie was off the field.

Major League players rarely speak this way. Until recently, sports culture discouraged any form of individualism. Freedom of expression is increasingly accepted, as evidenced by the league’s ‘Let the Kids Play’ promotional campaign in 2019. But even now, few players openly discuss individual goals, preferring to focus solely on the team.

Betts is certainly focused on his Los Angeles Dodgers winning the World Series, something they did in the shortened 2020 season but haven’t accomplished in a full season since 1988. After the team’s $1 billion offseason, which included the additions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he spoke of a “sense of urgency” this spring.

“We’ve been to the playoffs so many times and not gotten through,” Betts said, referring to the team’s 11 consecutive playoff appearances. “We got one, but one for nine or 10 is not that good in our sport, really in general.”

To become a “legend of the game,” at least from the perspective of Dodgers fans, Betts knows he has to perform better in October. He was brilliant in the 2020 postseason, but went a combined 2-for-25 as the Dodgers were eliminated in the past two Division Series, first by the San Diego Padres and then by the Arizona Diamondbacks, both times after hitting 100 or more had won. regular season games.

But when Betts mentioned his goal of becoming a legend, he wasn’t necessarily talking about on-field performance. I asked him when he realized that it was possible for him to achieve such a status, and that he even wanted to. His answer was telling.

“My friends really stick with me,” Betts said. “They tell me to embrace who you are. Embrace when you walk into a place and someone wants to have their picture taken or someone gets nervous. I used to shy away from it a bit. If I see someone who is quite shy, I go and talk to him. I’m going to humanize myself.

“I’m a normal person just like everyone else, but there are some things that I do a little differently, and there are some lives that I impact a little differently, and I think I have to embrace that. I’m trying. I’m trying my best. It’s weird to me, and it’s even weird to say something like that. But it really comes from my friends. They’ve been with me since I was in fifth grade, so they’ve seen where I was then. We had no idea all this would happen.”

“This” includes his remarkable 2018 season with the Boston Red Sox, when he won the American League batting title with a .346 batting average, helped the Red Sox win the World Series and was voted AL MVP. It also includes seven All-Star appearances and six Gold Gloves, not to mention a $365 million contract, the third-largest guarantee in Major League history.

However, Betts’ popularity stems not only from his immense all-around skills, but also from fans relating to a player who stands only 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds. Betts is far from a colossus. He also sometimes shows an endearing, almost childlike joy for the game.

The Dodgers plan to use Betts primarily at second base this season — he recently joked to reporters that he left his right field glove and cleats in Los Angeles. Last season, he moved deftly between right, second and shortstop, showing rare versatility, especially for a superstar.

“It felt like I could be a kid again,” says Betts, a native of Nashville, Tennessee. “Growing up, I never played one position. I almost looked like the utility man. I had four uniforms, and whoever called and needed a right fielder or a shortstop or a second baseman or a third baseman or a first baseman, that’s kind of where we went. It’s almost weird to only play one position, especially in the outfield.”

Wait, Betts played for four different youth teams at the same time?

“Wherever they were needed,” he continued, smiling. “Sometimes I would just pitch, and sometimes I would play left field. It didn’t matter. My dad, I appreciate that about him because I think that really taught me how to be a baseball player instead of just playing one position all the time.

For Betts, it was the start of something big: a Major League career about to enter its 11th season. The Hall of Fame seems within his reach, and yet he wants more. To win another World Series. To be admired on and off the field. To – yes, he said it – become a legend in the game.

(Top photo by Mookie Betts: Masterpress/Getty Images)

As the February sun shines down on all of baseball and the rankings show everyone is undefeated, it’s easy to melt into a zen state of spring training nirvana. But there is one question in our annual spring survey that brings us back to life. That’s the part where we ask our voters – a panel of 31 executives, former executives, coaches and scouts – which teams, front offices and managers are feeling the most pressure. As always, they had some thoughts!

BRIAN CASHMAN, AARON BOONE AND THE YANKEES (16 VOTES): Does it sometimes feel like Brian Cashman has been the Yankees general manager since the days of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford? In reality it has only been 26 years. But in the final fourteen, the Yankees forgot to do the one thing they’ve done more than any franchise ever: win the World Series. So if this vote reveals anything, it’s that Cashman and his manager, Aaron Boone, may want to reroute the path to the Canyon of Heroes because their job security could depend on it. … “I love Cash,” said a National League executive. “He’s been there longer than anyone else. But that team will have to make a statement.”

OLIVER MARMOL AND THE CARDINALS (12 VOTES): The good news for the Cardinals: Our voters had mostly good things to say about an offseason that saw them add Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to their rotation – and add depth to their bullpen with Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton. … The bad news for the Cardinals: Their entire rotation could be 33 or older — and we heard a lot of concerns about their manager, Oli Marmol, and his ability to navigate the storms of this ship. … “They would be at the top of my list of teams most likely to make a change (of managers),” said a rival NL manager. “I would just say this: Don’t sleep on the job Yadi (Molina) did as manager (Puerto Rico) in the Caribbean Series.”

AJ PRELLER/FRONT OFFICE ADDRESS (10 VOTES): Last year, a rival executive on this same turf made a bold prediction: If the Padres don’t win their division, in a season when the Dodgers were in such obvious reshuffling mode, “it’s going to be an exciting time. ” Well… maybe not. The Padres increased the payroll to $255 million, replenished the lineup and still played 18 games behind the Dodgers. But even after that debris settled, Preller’s head hadn’t rolled anywhere. But now the stakes seem even higher. The Padres missed that window to take on the Dodgers… beloved owner Peter Seidler lost his battle with cancer… they cut payroll by almost $100 million… and Juan Soto is 2,500 miles from the Gaslamp Quarter. So our voters sent a message that it’s time for Preller to get very nervous. … “They spent all that money,” said an American League executive. “And what do they have to show for it?”

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Four other teams are feeling the heat

Busy? Dave Roberts looks calm, cool and collected this spring. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today)

They didn’t make it into the medal standings. But these four teams also caught the attention of some voters.

DAVE ROBERTS/DODGERS (FIVE VOICES): When your team spends over a billion dollars on free agents, so does the manager to have to win? Five voters highly recommend that for Dave Roberts in Chavez Ravine. One voter’s opinion:

“They have to get to the World Series or they can make a change.”

FARHAN ZAIDI/GIANS (FOUR VOICES): Are the Giants starting to feel like your fisherman buddy who can’t stop telling you about the size of all the big fish he catches? it didn’t roll in? It seems like it sometimes, every time another standout wriggles out of their net.

So there were obvious questions about whether this team’s lack of star power could catch up with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

PERRY MINASIAN/ENGLISH (FOUR VOICES): It’s hard to see how it’s fair to pin the Angels’ problems on their GM, Perry Minasian, given all the dysfunction emanating from the owner’s box. But four voters thought Minasian could pay the price after all.

JOHN SCHNEIDER/BLUE JAYS LEADERSHIP (FOUR VOICES): And finally, there are the Blue Jays. The good news is that they have made the playoffs two years in a row under their extremely likable manager, John Schneider. The bad news is that they have been dismissed twice without winning a game.

The good news is that they pursued both Shohei Ohtani and Soto this past winter. The bad news is that their entire offseason has turned into a huge swing-and-miss.

So the pressure is real. And our voters were split on who squirmed more: Schneider or this front office. But if a frustrating winter leads to a frustrating summer, we might find out.

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(Photo of Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman: William Perlman/Newsday RM via Getty Images)