Everywhere you looked, every place you turned, and everything you heard has been about where Shohei Ohtani might end up.
Although Ohtani won’t be able to pitch until 2025 after undergoing elbow surgery, he is expected to be ready as a hitter, coming on the heels of arguably the best offensive season in the majors in 2023.
Nothing about his injury is stopping any team from pursuing him because he is a franchise-changing type of player who would easily become the cornerstone. The Angels have vowed to try to keep Ohtani, but he is going to be wooed by a handful of other teams willing to pay upwards of $500 million to win the services of the two-way star.
DraftKings released its next team odds for Ohtani this week and the team that comes out on top is the Los Angeles Dodgers (-110). They are followed by the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets.
Oddsmakers truly believe the Angels do not have a shot at bringing Ohtani back while giving the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Toronto Blue Jays an outside chance at landing the 29-year-old.
Ohtani is about to embark on one of the most fascinating free agencies not just in baseball history, but sports history. He will be worth so much to whichever organization he signs with when factoring in merchandise sales, attendance, ratings, and support from his native Japan.
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Ohtani played 135 games before his season was cut short. He still hit .304 with a league-leading 44 home runs and a major league-best OPS of 1.066. He led the AL with a .412 on-base percentage and he led the majors with a .654 slugging percentage.
