Dodgers: Would Yoshinobu Yamamoto still have signed if Shohei Ohtani went elsewhere?

There are not a few people who are convinced that Shohei Ohtani's decision to take his incredible baseball talents to the Los Angeles Dodgers played a huge role in Yoshinobu Yamamoto also deciding to join the National League West division club. After all, they're both Japanese, which will make Yamamoto's adjustment period in the big leagues and life in the United States easier.

But Yamamoto also set the record straight during his Wednesday's introductory press conference, saying that regardless of where Ohtani signed in the offseason, he likely would have still inked a deal with the Dodgers.

That might not be enough to completely change the minds of everyone who believes Ohtani's signing with the Dodgers was the key moment that led to Yamamoto's Los Angeles decision, but in any case, the ink on that monster 12-year, $325 million contract had dried up. Yamamoto is officially a Dodger and will be stepping on the mound beginning in the 2024 MLB campaign wearing Dodgers threads.

The Dodgers won the Yoshinobu Yamamoto MLB free agency sweepstakes by beating the likes of the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants.

The monster offseason haul of the Dodgers heightens expectations of the club. It is World Series or bust for Los Angeles, which added Ohtani and Yamamoto to an already stellar group that features the likes of Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.

Back in the 2023 MLB season, the Dodgers won 100 games against only 62 losses but faltered in the playoffs, as they got swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.