Dodgers Rumors: Writer Predicts Shohei Ohtani Signs $500 Million Deal With LA

Sounds good to us.

We may be getting ready for Opening Day of the 2023 season, but that doesn't mean it's too soon to look ahead to the offseason — especially because this offseason is unlike any we've had in recent memory.

In about eight months from now, when the 2023 season has come and gone, Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will be entering unrestricted free agency. He will be free to sign with any team he wants for however much money he wants, and the bidding war is sure to be unlike anything we've ever seen. At this point, it seems like a given that Ohtani gets the first $500 million in professional sports history — but $600 million is starting to feel possible.

Whatever it takes to get him, the Dodgers are sure to be in the mix. They had an unusually quiet offseason this year, seemingly clearing the books to make a run at the Japanese phenom. And over at The Athletic, Jim Bowden made 23 predictions for the upcoming 2023 season, and among them was that Ohtani would, in fact, sign with the Dodgers on a massive 11-year, half-a-billion-dollar deal.

"Shohei Ohtani enters free agency and becomes the second half-a-billion-dollar player in MLB history as he secures an 11-year contract with the Dodgers."

Now, the reason Bowden calls Ohtani the "second half-a-billion-dollar player" is because earlier in the article, he predicts Juan Soto signs a record half-a-billion-dollar extension of his own. But if that doesn't happen, then Ohtani's record contract will be the first of its kind — and he couldn't be more deserving to make that history.

Ohtani has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball — making the All-MLB First Team as a starting pitcher last season — and as one of the best hitters in baseball. He's truly two All-MLB players in one, which is why a contract north of $500 million doesn't feel remotely crazy.

Ohtani is also going to be just 29 years old when he hits free agency, which is right in the prime of his career. He's going to have plenty of dominant seasons in his future, and every big-spending contender will want to get their hands on him.

However, in the end, many experts have predicted the Dodgers will prevail. They're going to do whatever it takes to get him in blue, and he won't have to travel very far to do it. Ohtani on the Dodgers just makes too much sense — let's hope he feels that way, too.