The San Francisco Giants’ worst fears have been realized. After a whirlwind day of speculation and false reports, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani announced on Instagram that he will be joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.
MLB insider Jeff Passan reports the deal is for 10 years and $700 million, which would make it the largest contract in American professional sports history, shattering the record for largest contract in baseball history by more than $250 million.
Passan also reported that Ohtani is deferring much of the salary for later years, which would minimize the Dodgers’ competitive-balance-tax hit this year and allow the team to continue spending this offseason. According to Passan, the idea for the deferral reportedly came from Ohtani himself.
Ohtani was able to secure the record contract because of his unparalleled excellence as both a pitcher and a hitter. The unanimous American League MVP last season, Ohtani led the league in home runs (44) and on-base percentage (.412), while also going 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA on the mound.
The news is shattering for the Giants and their fans, as the team was believed to be a finalist to land the Japanese megastar. Instead Ohtani is set to join the Giants’ archrival, and solidify a Dodgers team that has already won the National League West 10 out of the last 11 seasons into a juggernaut for the rest of the 2020s. Oh, and the Giants will have to face Ohtani 13 times a season, too.
Making matters worse is the collective feeling of deja vu, for a fanbase that regularly gets its hopes up that the Giants will land the big fish, only to see the team come in second or third seemingly every offseason.
The tea leaves hadn’t looked good for San Francisco’s Ohtani pursuit for the past couple days. But Giants fans had reason to believe they’d avoided the worst-case scenario. Reports, backed by a top national baseball reporter, flooded the internet yesterday claiming Ohtani was on board a flight to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays. While San Francisco fans were disappointed he hadn’t chosen them, they could have at least contented themselves knowing he was playing in a division across the continent.
Not so.
The Giants will now have to pivot to Plan B. The top free agents still on the market include reigning Cy Young award winner Blake Snell, outfielder Cody Bellinger, third baseman Matt Chapman and Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Signing any of those players would boost morale and improve the Giants’ 2024 outlook. But none would have the impact that landing Ohtani, a two-way sensation the likes of whom hasn’t been seen since Babe Ruth, would have.