Throughout the first six years of his career, Shohei Ohtani has already made his case to be in Cooperstown. He's established himself as one of the most talented players of all time, winning two AL MVP's and finishing near the top of American League Cy Young Race multiple times. Ohtani produces at the plate at a pace equivalent to that of Atlanta Braves slugger Matt Olson, and also dominates on the mound at the level of New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. However, the Los Angeles Angels have struggled immensly, despite the fact that they have two of the most unique and gifted players ever in Ohtani and eleven-time All-Star center fielder Mike Trout. The Angels have been unable to build a competent roster outside of their two superstars, and have never reached the postseason with both Trout and Ohtani. It is a travesty for baseball connoisseurs. Hopefully, now that Ohtani is a free agent, he will be able to sign a record-breaking deal with an able franchise that can take the Japanese Unicorn deep into October baseball.
This offseason, Ohtani has been regarded by many in the baseball injury as the most-prized free agent in recent history. He has been projected by some analysts to get contract offers that eclipse seven hundred million dollars, and many teams are breaking the bank to prepare pitches for Ohtani. The reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs have all been teams that have been heavily linked to Ohtani. But the overwhelming favorite by picked by MLB insiders, fans, and managers has been the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani's camp has been very secretive about his entire free agency process and has not revealed much information to the public. However, Ohtani has said many times over the course of his media sessions and interviews that winning is the most important thing to him. Of course, money, family, geographical preference, and comfort are all factors, but Ohtani needs consistent team success to take priority. And what better team to sign with than the Angels crosstown rivals? The Dodgers, who have won the NL West ten out of the last eleven seasons, are a team that can practically guarantee Ohtani a slot in the playoffs for the foreseeable future. While they can't promise him a World Series, because as we've seen recently, all you need to win is a ticket to the dance. The best team hardly ever wins in October, and it is usually the squad who gets hot at the right time that ends up popping champagne after the last game of the season. The Dodgers, who have suffered devastating losses to division rivals in the NLDS each of the last two years, can pitch Ohtani a winning organization, but also a franchise that needs his help getting back to the Fall Classic.
The Dodgers are also one of the most financially flexible teams on the market. Los Angeles, which was very stingy with spending last summer, has hundreds of millions of dollars of cap space because most of the signings they made last offseason were one-year contracts. The Dodgers were also willing to let many big-name talents walk, such as Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, and Trea Turner. The explanation for Andrew Friedman's lack of aggressiveness is his adamancy to sign Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers are the only team in baseball that has been projected to have the ability to enter the sweepstakes for both Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a twenty-five year old ace from Japan who is expected to receive north of two hundred million dollars. It is extremely likely that Los Angeles will acquire at least one of them; the Dodgers are desperate for pitching after seeing their starting rotation decimated by injuries all throughout last season.
Additionally, Ohtani has claimed to "love" the Los Angeles area. The diversity, weather, and attractions have all been reportedly very appealing to him in the time he's spent in Southern California. Should Ohtani sign with the Dodgers, he wouldn't even have to buy a new house. He would be able keep all of his same doctors, and the Dodgers team physician is the same person who performed Ohtani's elbow surgery a few months ago. It could be a seamless change for the superstar, whose only routine change would be to simply switch clubhouses and freeways.
According to ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney, Ohtani has already made a decision. “Talking to people who know Ohtani, they think he’s already made his decision,” Olney said. “They think he knows where he wants to go and has for a long time.” Assuming this information is correct, it bodes very well for the Dodgers. If Ohtani has already decided where he wants to play, many mystery teams and information that has been leaked is likely just Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Sports, attempting to drive up the price for the final contract Ohtani receives from wherever he signs.
At the end of the day, there is no way to really know where a player will sign. But the fit between Ohtani and the Dodgers just makes too much sense not to happen. You never know, though. Crazy things happen in the world of sports.
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