The Los Angeles Dodgers offseason took a significant step forward on Saturday afternoon when Shohei Ohtani announced his intention to sign with the team.
Ohtani was believed to have been deciding between the Chicago Cubs, Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays as the most coveted free agent in MLB history.
Icorrect reports suggested Ohtani was traveling to Toronto on Friday to sign with the Blue Jays. That was ultimately dispelled and roughly 24 hours later, Ohtani was announced to having agreed on a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.
During an interview with MLB Network Radio, Evan Phillips shared how Dodgers group text threads reacted to the Ohtani news:
“Our bullpen group chat was going crazy, the team group chat was going crazy. It’s actually funny, it’s a good text with last year’s squad. Jason Heyward, he just re-signed with us and he mentioned a couple things. Miguel Rojas did too. The group chat was definitely lively. It’s going to be a fun year next year, that’s for sure.”
Ohtani joins the Dodgers after spending six seasons with the Angels. They missed the playoffs in each of those seasons, though Ohtani achieved personal greatness during that time and ascended to becoming the best player in baseball.
Among other accolades, Ohtani won an American League Rookie of the Year Award, two Silver Sluggers, three All-Star Game selections and twice was unanimously voted MVP.
Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to twice be voted a unanimous MVP winner and now his contract with the Dodgers is the richest ever in North American sports. Ohtani’s contract also is the most in sports history, surpassing the $674 million deal Lionel Messi signed to play with FC Barcelona from 2017-2021.
Ohtani’s former Angels teammate, Mike Trout, previously had the largest contract in MLB history with a 12-year, $426.5 million extension signed in March 2019.
Evan Phillips stats vs. Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani is 0-for-4 in his career against Phillips. Their matchups included a pivotal appearance for Phillips on June 21, in the second night of a back-to-back.
Phillips retired Ohtani, Trout and Brandon Drury in order to covert a second consecutive save and help the Dodgers complete a sweep in Anaheim.
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