Former Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani has signed a contract worth $700 million for ten years on Sat Dec 9, 2023 with the Los Angeles Dodgers the largest contract in professional sports (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Today, Saturday, December 9, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year $700 million contract. Largest ever in American sports.

During a wild and furious December 8, Friday afternoon, rumors swirled about the Toronto Blue Jays signing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Some believed Ohtani had boarded a plane from Santa Ana, California, to Toronto, Canada.

Others refute such information, saying that Ohtani remained in Southern California. The Los Angeles Dodgers had their eyes on Shohei Ohtani since he was in high school in Japan. They made him the centerpiece of this off-season and will have him in the lineup in 2024. They hope to have him back after surgery to pitch in 2025.

The Dodgers will open the checkbook and invest over a half billion dollars on Shohei, and now they are after a pitcher or two who could help that rotation, which is short for the Dodgers; they are after Dylan Cease, and if they even want to spend more money, the Japanese free agent right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which would be close to a $300 million investment. Yamamoto is just 25 years of age and the best pitcher in Japan. In seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, he is 70-29 with a sensational 1.82 ERA and 922 strikeouts.

The 2024 Major League Baseball season (MLB) is scheduled to begin on March 20–21 with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres held in Seoul, South Korea, before the regular season proper runs from March 28 to September 29. You can bet, Ohtani will be the DH for the Dodgers in Korea.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer for the Oakland A’s on the A’s Spanish radio network and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com