Shohei Ohtani Signs With Los Angeles Dodgers For Record $700 Million Deal, Biggest In Sports History

Los Angeles Angels baseball star Shohei Ohtani won’t have to move far to his next baseball team, as the Japanese baseball phenom has signed a record ten-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

“To all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team,” Ohtani confirmed in an Instagram post. 

In the past season, Ohtani led the American League with 44 home runs. His pitching stats were also strong, throwing in 132 innings with 167 strikeouts and a 3.14 ERA. 

His agent, Naz Balelo, talked positively about the deal, “This is a unique, historic contract for a unique, historic player. Shohei is thrilled to be a part of the Dodgers organization. He is excited to begin this partnership, and he structured his contract to reflect a true commitment from both sides to long-term success. Shohei and I want to thank all the organizations that reached out to us for their interest and respect, especially the wonderful people we got to know even better as this process unfolded.”

His contract is thought to be the biggest in sports history, surpassing Messi’s $674 million deal with FC Barcelona.

The upcoming season will likely see Ohtani be the Dodgers’ designated hitter. He had surgery in October for his right UCL, which rules him out from pitching.