Shohei Ohtani signing with Dodgers on 10-year, $700 million megadeal
Shohei Ohtani is moving just 31 miles for his next work address, but also into another stratosphere.
The most closely followed free agency in MLB history concluded Saturday when the two-way star reached agreement with the Dodgers on a 10-year contract worth a record $700 million.
Ohtani announced his decision in a statement.
“To all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision,” Ohtani said. “I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team.”
Ohtani’s deal includes “unprecedented” deferrals — including the majority of his salary, according to sources — allowing the Dodgers the financial flexibility for other moves.
Ohtani, 29, had no shortage of suitors, including at one point the Mets.
But according to a source, the Mets never extended a formal offer to Ohtani after it became clear the numbers would be higher than the team was comfortable going.
Ohtani, with the Angels, won his second American League MVP award last season after posting a .304/.412/.654 slash line with 44 homers and 95 RBIs in 135 games.
As a pitcher he went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts with 167 strikeouts in 132 innings.
But Ohtani threw his last pitch of the season in August, when he was diagnosed with a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament and underwent a second Tommy John surgery in his career.
Ohtani will not pitch next season as he rehabs the elbow, and there will be questions whether he can eventually return to his previous level on the mound.
But his inclusion as a DH on a roster that already includes Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy leaves the Dodgers with a lineup as formidable, if not better, than any in the game.
The Dodgers were the only club to openly admit they were courting Ohtani, who was intent on keeping his free-agent tour as secret as possible.
But at last week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., manager Dave Roberts admitted team officials had met with Ohtani.
All along the Dodgers were perceived favorites to land Ohtani because of their location — his preference was West Coast teams during his first free-agent tour, before the 2018 season — and ownership’s deep pockets.
If the Mets and Yankees weren’t going to sign Ohtani, the Dodgers might be the best possible landing spot for him given that all have pursued Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is set to begin meeting in the U.S. with suitors.
The Yankees will meet with Yamamoto on Monday, and the Mets recently had an audience with the right-hander in Japan, after team owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns traveled there to meet with him.
Yamamoto could command a $300 million contract, and the thought is the Dodgers would have been more motivated to sign him if they missed on Ohtani.
The Mets have made the 25-year-old Yamamoto their primary offseason focus as they look to fill multiple holes in their starting rotation.
Ohtani’s decision and record contract came just three days after the offseason’s other seismic event: Juan Soto’s trade from the Padres to the Yankees — along with Trent Grisham — for Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randu Vasquez, pitching prospect Drew Thorpe and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
If nothing else, Ohtani’s removal from the board should stimulate a market that appeared frozen at last week’s Winter Meetings as teams and agents awaited a decision from the game’s star attraction.
It’s a free-agent market that in addition to Yamamoto still includes names such as Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Josh Hader and Jordan Montgomery.
