Heyman: Dodgers In The Lead For Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani. Photo by Roberto Carlo
With the Major League Baseball offseason in full swing, everybody’s attention is turning to the big fish in the free agency ocean, Shohei Ohtani. Arguably the most valuable player in all of majors and one of the most talented players in the last 25-to-30 years.
With such a big free agent on the market, every team will be inquiring about his services, especially if they have a lot of money. The New York Mets are one of those teams with a lot of money are will surely do their homework on Ohtani. However, they will have competition, and the Los Angeles Dodgers will be their biggest.
Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Dodgers are in the lead for Ohtani. Heyman says that the consensus around the GM meetings this week was that Los Angeles is the favorite to land him because of their clearing up of payroll, winning pedigree, and location on the west coast.
It’s been long speculated that Ohtani would prefer to stay on the west side of the country as he loves it there. As for a move to New York, Heyman states that some believe Ohtani is reluctant to live there.
There is the possibility of Ohtani taking a short-term deal, as ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel says. He mentions that there is a belief Ohtani, with his UCL injury preventing him from taking the mound in 2024, would take a shorter-term deal before hitting the market again to get a big contract.
Specifically, McDaniel estimates a deal like that would be a six-year contract with a high annual average value of $55-60 million a year with an opt-out. A contract like that for a player such as Ohtani would benefit a team like the Dodgers or the Mets.
Until then, the mystery of where Ohtani will land continues to be the story of the offseason.
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