“I don’t think there is a director who wouldn’t like Ohtani.”
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a strange statement. The Dodgers swept two consecutive games in the Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels on the 21st and 22nd. Coach Roberts said the above right after the game on the 22nd. In fact, there are rumors that Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) will choose to go to the Dodgers in the 2023-2024 free agent market.
Ohtani had an interview with local reporters after the game on the 22nd despite the team’s loss. When asked about the Dodgers rumors at this meeting, he said, “I want to focus on the season.” In the 2017-2018 offseason, he said, “I am grateful not only to the Dodgers but also to the teams that tried hard to sign me,” even for receiving a love call from the Dodgers in the process of moving to the Angels.
In this way, Ohtani came up with a ‘standard스포츠토토, exemplary answer’, but director Roberts revealed his true intentions (?) to some extent when the topic of Ohtani came out. Of course, manager Roberts told the LA Times, “(Ohtani) is with the Angels now, so I want to prevent hits and I want him to be out four times. That is what I want.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 3rd in the National League West with 41 wins and 33 losses. Certainly, it is evaluated that the depth of the mound is lower than in previous years. It would not be strange to recruit Ohtani right before the trade deadline to win this year’s World Series right away, but Angels general manager Perry Minassian recently reconfirmed that he was ‘not tradeable’. This is because the Angels are also in a position to look at the postseason.
In the end, the Dodgers seem to be aiming for the 2023-2024 free agent market. In the 2022-2023 FA market, the interpretation that excessively refrained from recruiting external free agents was also a ‘pre-work’ for Ohtani’s recruitment is dominant. The Dodgers are one of the few teams that can afford more than $500 million and $600 million per player.
Manager Roberts told Dodger Blue, “An elite fastball, ability to put strikes, great stuff, and even falling balls. Looking at him, it’s like he’s back in Little League. I am watching him as a fan. Preparing against him is difficult. He threw 100 balls and went a competitive 4 at bat, which is just amazing.”
Roberts is under contract with the Dodgers through 2025. Will he be able to eat rice with an existence like a fan? There are plenty of possibilities.
