Social media can settle down, only to rip it up and start again after Shohei Ohtani’s announcement that he’s signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
According to Jeff Passan, the Dodgers are signing Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract, making him MLB’s highest-paid player of all time. Ohtani’s contract surpasses Texas’ Max Scherzer and Houston’s Justin Verlander, both of whom make an average of $43.3 million per season.
Not only does Ohtani become baseball’s highest-paid player, he also becomes the highest-paid athlete in the entire sports world, besting Lionel Messi’s $555 million.
But he’s earned it. Even though the two-time MVP won’t be able to help the Dodgers on the mound in 2024, he’ll immediately become the team’s best hitter. He’d be any team’s best hitter.
Even so, once Ohtani is able to start throwing fireballs again after recovering from elbow surgery, his value will only increase. Then again, can the popularity of the global superstar, the face of baseball, really grow any further?
Playing with the Dodgers, a seven-time World Series winner, will already have Ohtani under a bigger spotlight than he saw with the Angels. Unlike the Halos, the Dodgers haven’t missed the postseason since 2012. That won’t change now that they’ve added baseball’s best player.
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Shohei Ohtani requests unique contract structure to help Dodgers win now
In an effort to avoid the same scenario he suffered through with the Los Angeles Angels, where Ohtani missed the playoffs all six years, he reportedly requested a unique contract structure. The idea here is for the Dodgers to keep building around Ohtani, giving him his best shot at winning a World Series.
Ohtani’s contract, which goes through 2034, does not include any opt-outs, meaning the only way he leaves the Dodgers is via trade aside from retirement. Yet, everyone associated with the Dodgers is hoping he’ll have several World Series rings on his fingers before even considering hanging up his cleats.
For now, the Dodgers can celebrate because no matter what happens throughout the rest of this offseason, they’ve already won in the biggest way imaginable. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays are left dreaming about what could have been, just like the Angels, and the other 27 teams who missed out on Ohtani.
