The destination of Major League Baseball (MLB) free agent Shohei Ohtani (29) has been confirmed as the LA Dodgers.
Local American media such as MLB.com and ESPN reported on the 10th (Korean time) that “Ohtani agreed to a record-breaking contract with the Dodgers worth a total of $700 million (approximately KRW 922.4 billion) over a 10-year contract period.”
Ohtani also made his transfer official by posting an image symbolizing the Dodgers with LA written on it on his social media.
Ohtani's contract is the largest contract in North American professional sports history. It easily exceeded the previous 10-year salary of $450 million for North American Football (NFL) Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Ohtani, whose contract with the LA Angels expired at the end of the 2023 season, was by far the biggest free agent.
Big market clubs such as his original team, the Angels, Dodgers, Sakago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays, entered the recruitment war to capture Ohtani's heart.
Because there was so much interest, an incident occurred. MLB Network's John Moroshi reported on the 9th that "Ohtani boarded a flight to Toronto, Canada," but it turned out to be not true.
After his report, rebuttals poured in, and as the repercussions grew online, Morosi eventually ended up apologizing directly through social media. That's how the rumor about Ohtani joining Toronto ended in an accident.
The Ohtani saga, which had numerous stories, ended with the announcement of his move to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers were sincere in recruiting Ohtani.
Director Dave Roberts publicly expressed interest, revealing that he met with Ohtani during the Winter Meetings. And he succeeded in capturing Otani's heart by betting an astronomical amount of money.
Ohtani, who created a sensation in MLB by pitching and batting, recorded 38 wins, 19 losses, and an ERA of 3.01 as a pitcher in five big league seasons, and as a hitter, he recorded a batting average of 0.274, 171 home runs, 437 RBI, and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.922. .
He won the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award in 2018, his first year in MLB, and dominated the big league by unanimously becoming the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2021 and 2023. 19가이드03