They see $700m Shohei Ohtani as an investment rather than an expense. The Japanese great is a fantastic pitcher and batter for Los Angeles. They’ll also experience a huge increase in revenue.. In terms of culture, it’s the largest free agency splash in North American sports since LeBron James made “The Decision” in 2010 to move from Cleveland to Miami. It’s far more significant financially than that. Furthermore, it could be a decisive factor in baseball’s never-ending arms race between the richest teams in the game.

An agreement for a reported 10 years and $700 million has been reached between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani, an unparalleled pitcher-designated hitter combination. When the agreement closes, it will be the biggest in American sports history in terms of both total and yearly value. The 29-year-old made the announcement on Saturday that he was joining the Dodgers and leaving the Los Angeles Angels, who play across town. Probably awaiting the outcome of a physical examination, the team had not yet recognized the agreement on Sunday. This is significant because Ohtani’s injured ulnar collateral ligament will keep him from throwing until at least the 2025 season. However, everything will work out in the end, and Ohtani will relocate to Chavez Ravine from Anaheim. One of the top teams in the league will add its greatest and most marketable talent when he completes his move.

Shohei Ohtani agrees to record $700m, 10-year contract with LA Dodgers

There is nothing like Ohtani’s spectacular play from the past. He is the greatest hitting and pitching combo baseball has ever seen—better than the great Babe Ruth, who pitched brilliantly for a short while before giving up to devote all of his attention to his bat. The Dodgers will have to wait to see Ohtani’s potential as one of the finest pitchers in the game because of his UCL injury. Nonetheless, he should be a pillar of the team’s pitching staff when he takes the field because, during the previous three years, he has struck out more than 11 batters per nine innings and had a 2.84 earned run average, which ranks ninth among eligible pitchers. Ohtani has a slow, sweeping curveball and a furious fastball that reaches 97 mph. Hitters have had difficulty controlling either.

But the Japanese player will immediately go to work as a hitter. Ohtani performed admirably at the plate for the most part as he earned the American League MVP award again in 2023. Ohtani finished his season early in September due to an injury, but he still blasted 44 home runs and probably cleared 50. (On 31.2% of his flyballs, he left the yard; no one else even made it to 28%.) Unlike many sluggers, Ohtani crushes the ball on all fields and does it without amassing a sizable amount of strikeouts. He will provide the Dodgers with the best designated hitter in the league right away. Ohtani will like spending half of his games at Dodger Stadium, the second-friendliest ballpark in baseball for home run hitters like him, in that role (if not as a pitcher).

Japanese fans flocked to buy special editions announcing the news of Shohei Ohtani’s record MLS deal. Photograph: JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

It is clear that the Dodgers will benefit on the field from signing Ohtani, but they will also reap significant financial rewards. MLB teams take great care with their books, but they don’t spend money if they don’t plan on getting it back. The Dodgers have decided that paying Ohtani $70 million a year is not too extravagant, probably because they anticipate a huge spike in everything from television ratings to ticket sales to merchandise. (Ohtani’s reputation as a global celebrity surely lends credence to their theory.) The Dodgers know that great players are an investment rather than a cost, and when Ohtani plays more games in their uniform, the team will see a huge return. In Japan, where he is the most well-known athlete, if not the most well-known person overall, that return will be especially profitable. Supporters in his own country waited in line on Sunday to purchase special newspaper editions announcing the relocation. With about 125 million people living there, there is a huge market for Dodgers jersey sales.

Baseball fans outside of Japan will benefit from Ohtani’s decision because they will finally get to see a fantastic player in important late-season games. The Angels’ lack of postseason appearances during the tenure of both Ohtani and potential first-ballot Hall of Fame center fielder Mike Trout is the greatest baseball tragedy, or travesty, of the last six years. Ohtani was obviously affected by those mistakes, since he consented to large contract deferrals in order to save money on a competitive team around him and to avoid facing harsher fines under MLB’s revenue-sharing rules. The Dodgers are a regular participant in the postseason; they have won the National League West ten times in the past eleven years. Even before acquiring Ohtani, they had no intention of losing out on the postseason this year. He will be inserted into a lineup that already features two megastars: first baseman Freddie Freeman and outfielder Mookie Betts. The Dodgers currently boast three of the top ten batters in the world, conservatively speaking.

The Dodgers have otherwise established a habit of spectacularly exploding out of the postseason, even though they won the World Series in the 2020 season despite the pandemic. Despite the fact that Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts together create one of the most intimidating lineup cores in baseball history, there are no assurances that things will go well in October. However, the Dodgers plan to continue pounding home their addition of Ohtani until they more regularly turn their 100-win regular seasons into postseason triumphs. Ohtani’s presence guarantees that everyone will be observing when they do.