Andrew Friedman Reveals His Pitch to Shohei Ohtani That Led to Him Joining Dodgers
The Dodgers landing Shohei Ohtani was a long time coming, but they are glad he's with them now. Ohtani gives them another superstar on the roster, but one that has more of a global appeal for the team.
L.A. had been trying to sign Ohtani since he was in high school, but it seems that the third time was really the charm. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman broke down his pitch to Ohtani while speaking to the MLB Network.
"No matter how you define the success of the last 10 years, our whole goal is to make the next 10 years way better. And we have the farm system, we’ve got the core talent in place, and for us it’s all about winning. And it jived perfectly with everything he was saying."
Ohtani connected with the Dodgers' desire to win over the next decade, despite all the success that they've seen in previous years. The team hasn't won enough World Series to satisfy themselves, and Ohtani wants to be a part of helping them change that fact.
The Dodgers will give Ohtani every chance possible to win the World Series each season that he is with the team. This isn't something that most squads around baseball could realistically offer him, which is one of the reasons L.A. was such an attractive destination for him.
Additionally, Ohtani believed the pitch from the Dodgers, which helped lead to his historic contract deferrals. He knows that his salary on the books would have hampered their ability to spend, so Ohtani decided it was more worth it to him to receive the bulk of his contract once the deal was done.
The two-way superstar has long desired to win at the highest level, and now he will have his chance with the Dodgers. The two sides make for a great pairing, and the goal is to win multiple World Series together.
