Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is expected by many to receive a $600 million dollar contract in free agency following the 2023 season. However, the Angels two-way phenom was diagnosed with a torn UCL injury on Wednesday. Since Ohtani's value stems from his abilities as both a pitcher and a hitter, will the looming concern of this injury impact his potential contract in free agency at all?
Shohei Ohtani's $600 million contract in jeopardy?
There haven't been any reports to suggest Ohtani's contract is in real jeopardy. But this is a player who's dealt with elbow concerns in the past. As a result, teams may be hesitant to go all in on his value as a pitcher. Still, Ohtani is an elite hitter and should continue to crush the baseball regardless of his health on the mound.
As aforementioned though, the reason Ohtani would make so much money, more than any player ever possibly, is because he's doing things never seen before on a field. In fact, $600 million may only be a starting point. Some reports value Ohtani's potential contract well over that mark.
Shohei Ohtani already underwent Tommy John surgery once in his career. Many pitchers have successfully returned from one instance of Tommy John surgery, but the number of pitchers who've found success following two instances of the procedure drops considerably. It needs to be noted that Ohtani isn't guaranteed to undergo Tommy John surgery as of this story's publication, but it remains a possibility.
Regardless of Ohtani's surgery status, teams will have to be extra careful with him down the road. It would not be surprising to see Ohtani limited as a pitcher moving forward. Teams will not want to risk losing any bit of his elite offensive prowess due to injury concerns that stem from pitching.
Ohtani's future with the Angels
The odds off Ohtani remaining in Anaheim after the Angels decided not to trade him prior to the deadline appear to be slim. The Angels went all in and bought at the deadline, something that hasn't paid off. It would take a miracle of sorts for the Halos to rebound and make a playoff run now, given their difficult August. Additionally, Ohtani's elbow injury and Mike Trout being placed on the injured list once again place the Angels in an especially difficult spot.
Trout's durability concerns and the Angels inability to piece together a winning ball club won't entice Ohtani to stay. Again, only he knows what his future may hold, but from the outside looking in it seems likely that 2023 will be Shohei's final season in an Angels uniform.
This all leads to the primary question of what will Shohei Ohtani's contract in free agency look like?
Ohtani's post-injury contract prediction
Much of this depends on whether or not Ohtani is forced to undergo Tommy John surgery, both for the long-term and short-term future. Teams will be much more hesitant to dish out a $600 million-plus contract to Ohtani if his pitching future is surrounded by uncertainty.
Yes, Ohtani is an elite hitter. But we've never seen any star position player make the money that Ohtani probably has coming his way. I'd argue that at most, Ohtani's injury may lower his contract to the $550 million range. But even that seems unlikely. There's still going to be a bidding war for a player who some fans and analysts have called the greatest of all time.
The bidding war alone may increase Ohtani's salary and place it over the $600 million mark. Or, there's a chance teams will try to offer him an insanely high annual salary but a lower number of years. Either way, he's going to get paid this offseason, injury or not.
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