Dodgers: How Shohei Ohtani’s New Deal with the Angels Affects The Dodgers

Angels Superstar signs huge deal, what does this mean for LA?

Big News came from our neighbors down in Orange County as the Angles and superstar Shohei Ohtani agreed to a $30 million deal for the 2023 season to avoid arbitration. 

The team announced on Saturday to potentially avoid a complicated arbitration case with the 2021 AL MVP. 

Rumors have swirled about the potential availability of the two-way superstar in the off-season and those rumors were spicing up during this year's trade deadline. 

And of course, the Dodgers are among the few teams who are in on Ohtani because they’re in on everyone. 

Teams now have a more clear idea of how much the 28-year-old would cost since he’s now under contract. 

The price for Shohei would be a hefty one as it will most likely require several prospects and big leaguers in a package for the ages. 

And honestly, he would be worth it. Widely considered the best player in baseball already, he’s had tremendous success in his five-year career. 

In his career, he’s slashing .268/.355/.534 with an OPS of .889 and has a 28-13 record with a 2.98 ERA, 435 strikeouts, 1.10 WHIP in 344.2 innings pitched in his career. 

What does this mean for Los Angeles? 

The Ohtani contact is a record for an arbitration-eligible player (11% above old record of $27M by Betts). His $24.5M raise Is the biggest year-to-year increase ever for a player, and it puts him in the top 10 as of now for 2023 salary and AAV.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 1, 2022

Your guess is as good as mine about where Shohei will go, but the chances of him remaining in Anaheim are thin. 

The Dodgers would need to give up ready big leaguers and tons of prospects, even the ones who they haven’t drafted. All jokes aside, a haul for Ohtani would be monumental and LA would need to break the bank if they were to acquire him in a trade. 

That would mean the likes of a Trea Turner would not be on the team. 

Losing Trea would hurt as a fan, but if the end result of that would mean gaining Ohtani then i’m all for that. 

He is the modern version Babe Ruth and could very well go down as the greatest baseball player of all time. Shohei is the ultimate 6-tool player and anyone would be lucky to have him on their team. 

For the time being, the Angels are the ones who must decide on what to do with him and make the best decision for themselves.