Where in the world will Shohei Ohtani end up? That's the question that's on every baseball fan's mind this offseason. The Los Angeles Angels star is heading into free agency, and everyone wants a piece of the star. There's a good reason why: Ohtani is the biggest name in baseball right now, and he has the talent and the popularity to help a franchise succeed.
The obvious reason why any MLB team would want Shohei Ohtani is his talent. His ability to be the best pitcher AND the best hitter on any given day is extremely rare in today's game. However, there's another potential reason why teams would want to get Ohtani: the money factor. One American League executive told Ken Rosenthal that Ohtani's situation is similar to Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami.
“Paying $500 million for a right fielder perhaps would be ill-advised. Judge, who hit the market last offseason when he was 15 months older than (Angels star) Ohtani, hardly is certain to age well. But Ohtani’s ability to pitch is not the only fascinating variable in his free agency. His transcendent star power is another. “Look at the example of Messi in Miami,” an AL executive said, referring to soccer legend Lionel Messi. “I think Ohtani is the same model.””
While baseball's reach is not as big as soccer, Ohtani's name is still pretty well-known around the world. The World Baseball Classic showed just how popular the Angels star is. Any team that acquires Shohei Ohtani will undoubtedly get a major boost in their ticket sales and the like. Already, he's brought a massive Japanese contingent to the Halos' fanbase. He's must-watch TV, something that the sport desperately needed.
Unfortunately, we won't be seeing Ohtani rip those nasty sweepers of his next season. The Angels star underwent Tommy John surgery after a UCL tear, and he's not expected to pitch at all next year. However, Ohtani can and likely will play as a DH next season. In fact, the Angels star did exactly that towards the end of the 2023 season. It'll be interesting to see which team signs the Japanese superstar.