On Dec. 11, 2023, two-way pitching and hitting player Shohei Ohtani kept his career alive when he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani has been in the MLB since 2017 when he signed with the Los Angeles Angels for $155 million. He wanted to stay in L.A when his contract ended with the Angels, so he was picked up by the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have come up with a strategy to pay him $2 million a year for the ten year contract, and after his contract ends they will pay him the remaining $680M. The team outsmarted the system with this move because this means they can spend more money to recruit other players. With this plan, the Dodgers picked up pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto from the Japan Pacific League.
Baseball fans from the Bay Area are not happy that their teams, the Oakland As and the San Francisco Giants, will have to play against him. “I would want Ohtani to be in the AL-East because it’s the farthest away, I just don’t want him playing against the Giants,” said Vista del Lago High School sophomore David Wright.
With these many recruitments, the Dodgers momentum this season is at their highest and are going to be a challenging team to play against. The Dodgers spent a whopping $1 billion over two players, Shohei and Yamamoto, and have the most amount of money spent each year than any other teams in the MLB for new recruitments.
With Ohtani getting Tommy John in his elbow causing a torn UCL last season, he will most likely be just a DH this season with the Dodgers. “He might be able to pitch a little bit at the end of the season, but I doubt it,” said Vista sophomore Logan Shamblin.
The 2024 MLB Regular season ends on September 29, which gives Ohtani a lot of time to be able to recover, but the Dodgers don’t want to risk him getting hurt again because of how much money they spent on him.
After all they’ve invested, the Dodgers will have a great season this year with the recruitments they have grabbed. They’ve already played six games in spring training and have a record of 5-1. Ohtani had the San Francisco Giants in mind, but ended up going with the Dodgers. “I know why he chose the Dodgers, because he wants to win, and the Giants can’t do that,” said Vista sophomore Damon (DJ) Kubik.
The Dodgers are currently playing Spring Training in Arizona which is televised. Their first home opening game will be on March 28 against the Cardinals.
