Shohei Ohtani Reveals When He Decided to Sign With the Dodgers

This was a surprising comment.

It always felt like Shohei Ohtani donning the Dodger Blue was inevitable. 

Even back in July, when the Angels chose not to ship him at the deadline, much of the focus was on how that would impact his potential offseason signing with LAD. 

But perhaps, it wasn't as inevitable as we thought. In Ohtani's press conference today, he revealed that he made his decision "the night before" he made the announcement.

"I made my decision the night before I made the announcement."

Shohei Ohtani says he decided on the Dodgers on that Friday night.

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) December 14, 2023

This indirectly confirms some rumors that the Toronto Blue Jays, among other teams, were firmly in the race for the superstar. 

The Dodgers still being able to land him makes it all the more bittersweet, but the idea that he was clearly incredibly close to signing elsewhere wasn't something that had much traction earlier on. 

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Of course, Ohtani could also just be approaching this as a PR issue, as he wouldn't want to imply that his mind was already made up on signing with LAD while he was still fielding interest from other organizations. 

It's clear that one way or another, the work done by Andrew Friedman and Mark Walter was, and has been terrific – to such a degree that Ohtani's contract includes a clause to opt-out after a season in which Friedman or Walter are no longer in their positions.

Shohei Ohtani said he feels like his contract with the Dodgers is also a contract with Andrew Friedman and Mark Walter, which is why he added that clause in his contract to act as a "safety net" if one of them are not with the team anymore.

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) December 14, 2023

The newest member of arguably the greatest lineup of all time (and certainly the greatest 1-2-3 of all time) clearly weighed the team's elite ownership and management heavily, leading much of the credit of this historic signing for Friedman and Walter.