The Los Angeles Dodgers set the bar incredibly high in Shohei Ohtani’s first season with the club by helping him reach the postseason for the first time in his career and going on to win the World Series.
Ohtani spent the first six seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Angels, never finishing with a record above .500 and failing to reach the postseason every year.
In addition to the ultimate team success of winning a World Series, Ohtani found a great deal of personal accomplishments during his first season with the Dodgers by winning his third MVP award and becoming the first 50/50 player in MLB history.
With nine years still to go on his initial 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, things have already turned out better than Ohtani could have ever hoped for, he said via Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports:
“This exceeded my expectations,” Ohtani told USA TODAY Sports through interpreter Matt Hidaka, looking back at his first season with the Dodgers. “Obviously the first time I made the playoffs. We won the World Series. What more can you ask for?”
The Dodgers have already made plenty of moves this offseason in the interest of putting themselves in position to win another World Series. They signed Blake Snell to a multi-year contract in free agency, brought in Michael Conforto, re-signed an important bullpen piece in Blake Treinen and extended Tommy Edman.
They also remain interested in bringing Teoscar Hernández back and have been connected to Tanner Scott.
While the Dodgers are not done making moves, this is the second offseason in a row that they have followed through on their promise to surround Ohtani with talent after he deferred $680 million of his contract to 2034.
Last offseason, the Dodgers added Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Hernández after bringing in Ohtani.
Supporting Shohei Ohtani during Ippei Mizuhara scandal brought Dodgers together
The Dodgers faced a great deal of adversity on their way to winning a World Series, but none more unique than the gambling scandal brought about by Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in the opening series of the 2024 season.
Freddie Freeman believes the way that the Dodgers clubhouse responded with immediate support for Ohtani set them ‘on the right course’ to win the World Series.
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