Shohei Ohtani Signs with LA Hot Stove Notes

The wait is over, LA can take a break from the site formally known as Twitter. The people of Los Angeles can take their eyes off the jet tracking websites. The Dodgers officially announced what the baseball world needed to hear—Joe Kelly is back with the Dodgers.

On Monday, December 11, the Dodgers officially announced the one-year deal with Kelly after freeing up some space on the 40-man roster. Andrew Freidman and the rest of the front office also made space on the roster for a $700 million-dollar free agent—Shohei Ohtani.

Shohei Ohtani

After the internet had a ball on Friday playing a game of “Where in the World is Shohei Ohtani?”, the two-time MVP, two-way superstar, World Baseball Classic champion Ohtani announced he will be signing with the Dodgers.

Details on the contract are light. As of now, the only information out there is that it is a 10-year deal worth $700 million dollars. The contract is also speculated to have most of the money in deferments in order to give the front office money to keep the team competitive throughout the 10 years.

For the last year, anytime I had the opportunity to sneak in a shoutout to Ohtani, I took the shot. In a way, Los Angeles should be thanking me. I am the reason he signed with the Dodgers. We did it, LAX Sports Nation.

With Ohtani in the line-up, the Dodgers will field three previous MVP’s—Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are the other two. If they resign Clayton Kershaw, that would make it four. FOUR! One more and they will become the Thanos of Major League Baseball.

Andrew Freidman

All jokes aside, Friedman will never buy a beer for the rest of his life. The Dodgers need to add a statue ahead of everyone.

If you’re asking yourself how many championships the Dodgers need to win in order for this deal to make sense, here is the only answer you need to hear—one. That’s it. That is all the Dodgers need to win in order to make this deal worth it.

The Dodgers made room on the roster by making a trade with the Yankees where they traded LHP Victor Gonzalez and infielder Jorbit Vivaldi for shortstop Trey Sweeney. The transaction is just a small detailed for the BIG PICTURE deal.

Unanswered Questions

Does Ohtani officially fix everything wrong with the Dodgers? No. The team still needs pitching. Relying on second-year pitchers and pitchers coming off major injuries is not the answer. The trade talks between the Rays and the Dodgers for Glassnow have intensified. Hopefully the Rays also include a certain corner outfielder in the trade.

Does Ohtani hurt future free agents? No. His supposedly deferments will keep the team competing for years to come.

Does having one of the best players in the history of the sport improve the brand? Hell yeah. They now hold the attention of the entire country of Japan.

What’s next? Address the problem with the team and give the vanity project a great supporting cast.

The post Ohtani signs with Dodgers appeared first on Los Angeles Sports Nation.