The Los Angeles Dodgers have completed their all-time MVP trio with the signing of Shohei Ohtani, 29.
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers on Tuesday. It is the largest contract in professional sports history, surpassing Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million extension with the Angels and Lionel Messi’s $674 million contract with Barcelona. There is no opt-out clause, and much of the salary is deferred, saving the Dodgers money.
Ohtani, who rose to stardom as a two-hitter in Nippon Professional Baseball, made his big league debut in 2018 when he signed with the Angels and won the American League Rookie of the Year award. After a brief hiatus following Tommy John surgery, Ohtani began to fulfill his potential in 2021.
In 2021, Ohtani was unanimously named the American League MVP after batting .257 (138-for-537) with 46 home runs, 100 RBIs, and a .965 OPS in 155 games as a hitter, and going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 23 games (130⅓ innings) as a pitcher. Last year, he finished second in MVP voting behind Aaron Judge (Yankees), who broke the American League home run record (62), but this year he won his second unanimous MVP award after going 135-for-44 (151-for-497) with 44 home runs, 95 RBIs and a 1.066 OPS in 135 games as a hitter and 23 games (132 innings) as a pitcher, going 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA. Ohtani is the first player in major league history to win the unanimous MVP award twice.
With Ohtani’s astronomical contract, the Dodgers now have three MVP-winning hitters on their roster. Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. Ohtani is a two-time unanimous MVP, Betts won the American League MVP in 2018, and Freeman won the National League MVP in 2020.
Betts, a seven-time MVP, seven-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger, and six-time Gold Glove winner, was outstanding this year, batting .370 (179-for-584) with 39 home runs, 107 RBI, and a .987 OPS in 152 games. Betts, who came to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade with Boston in January 2020, signed a 12-year, $365 million extension with the Dodgers shortly after the trade.
Freeman, also a highly decorated seven-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger, and one-time Gold Glove winner, including MVP, batted .303 (211-for-637) with 29 homers, 102 RBIs, and a .976 OPS in 161 games this year. A franchise star in Atlanta, Freeman helped lead the team to a World Series title in 2021 and signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers after the season. 아톰카지노 주소
The combined contracts of Ohtani, Betts and Freeman are worth a whopping $1.27 billion ($1.6196 trillion). That’s nearly 20 years’ worth of team payroll for Tampa Bay, Oakland, Baltimore, and others with the lowest team payrolls in the majors.If the Dodgers don’t win the World Series next season right away, they’ll be labeled a failure.
Fans can’t wait to see how the Dodgers perform next season, with the most powerful trio of MVPs in Major League Baseball history.
