Ohtani Comes To America

It’s been a crazy offseason for Ohtani this year. Signing his $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency wasn’t the end of it. Aside from normal Spring Training ramping back up after his procedure, some other developments came up. On the positive side, Ohtani announced he was newly married to Mamiko Tanaka, who has been a Japanese basketball player in recent years. On the negative side, a gambling scandal emerged around his former right hand man – interpreter Ippei Mizuhara – which Ippei involved Ohtani in by reportedly lying about knowledge and involvement to it. Jack and Kev talk about the latest developments with the marriage and Ippei, as well as giving a little preview to the Dodgers’ year ahead. Ohtani’s seventh MLB season has officially begun.

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Ohtani has reported to Spring Training and is beginning a new journey to prepare for the start of the 2024 season. While the Dodgers were always a top contender and obvious destination in free agency, what if Ohtani had chosen somewhere else? Kev and Jack look through specific lenses – the uniforms, locations, stadiums, and competitiveness – at the 29 other MLB teams in the league.

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Thanks to the talented artist @247chr0 on Twitter for creating our new podcast cover artwork!

After getting the full breakdown on the $700 million contract that Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, perceptions around the deal shifted. While it was a 10-year contract to play for the team, $680 million of that will be deferred until after it finishes. For the next 10 years, Ohtani will make $2 million per year – which is the number that got headlines. However, for the Dodgers’ luxury tax purposes (aka how competitive they can be), Ohtani will still be measured against that as $46 million per year based on MLB’s system. Essentially, he’s still the highest value player in the league and does take up a lot of room on the team payroll. Jack and Kev talk about how this changes their opinion on the deal, the Dodgers’ press conference, Ohtani’s dog name reveal, and more.

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The big decision of free agency is done. Ohtani is staying in Southern California, but with the Los Angeles Dodgers as his next team. The contract is the biggest in sports history, $700 million for 10 years.

After reporters had complained about it being too quiet and private a process for the sport, Friday included thousands of people tracking a flight to Toronto – and even Drake posting on Stories – before Ohtani shared his decision in an Instagram post the next day.

Kev and Jack give their initial reactions, talk through the Dodgers team choice, and the frenzy that led to it.

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After winning the MVP in 2021 and falling second in 2022 to Aaron Judge’s record-breaking performance, Ohtani’s performance this year earned him a second unanimous MVP award win. Announced in mid-November, the next day a ESPN Films documentary was released – “Shohei Ohtani: Beyond The Dream” – about his journey from Japan to the U.S. and his unique vision to make it happen. Jack and Kev talk about how this MVP win impacts the future discussion and initial reactions to the documentary.

After being shut down from pitching at the end of August, the rest of Ohtani's season also wrapped up earlier into September than expected. From an oblique injury that kept him as day-to-day, to then finally getting his elbow repair surgery (not full Tommy John), the decision was made that it was best for him to just heal at this point. Kev and Jack talk about the strange end to the season, as he finally finishes his contract with the Angels.

Ohtani was announced to have a UCL tear (in his elbow), which has stopped him from pitching for the rest of the season. And, depending if he gets Tommy John surgery again, could keep him from throwing next year as well. He’s still hitting for now, and could still do that most of 2024 as well, but there’s a lot more questions now overall around the future of Ohtani’s on-the-field play – let alone how this will all impact his upcoming free agency and the contract he’ll be signing. Meanwhile, the Angels completely blew it after the trade deadline and fell apart. Jack and Kev talk about what it all might mean for Ohtani, what this next month will bring (including the HR race with Olson), and the playful moment with Elly De La Cruz on the day of the injury.

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While the Angels said they were listening to trade offers, Ohtani seemed to never really be close to getting moved by the team. So he'll remain in Anaheim through the end of the season before free agency. Instead, the Angels brought in a few new players to help supplement their push for the playoffs. Kev and Jack do a quick recap of the last couple weeks since the All-Star Break, from the trade deadline period to Ohtani's incredible two-way doubleheader performance in Detroit.

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June turned out to be one of the best months of Ohtani’s career, hitting 15 homers in 30 days and having some impressive pitching starts. While he is currently dealing with a cracked fingernail that impacted his last couple starts before the break, hopefully that will not continue to linger. In the meantime, Ohtani seemed to enjoy the All-Star Game in Seattle – easily making the team with his performance and popularity. However, the Angels have fallen just under .500 again after a slew of injuries. Is there any chance they trade him before the August 1st trade deadline? Or will they try to stay in the wild card hunt for a playoff spot? Ohtani will have no say in it until he’s a free agent after the season, but in the meantime he’s handling business. The question for him is: can he really chase the AL home run record that Aaron Judge broke last year?

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It’s a big year for Ohtani, as no longer after this season will he be committed to the Angels anymore. No more contract, and so far there’s been no real talks of him re-signing. So the pressure is on the Angels to win, and Ohtani wants to just as bad as ever – if not more, given he’s coming off leading Japan to victory in the World Baseball Classic only a few months ago. And now his opponent for that last championship out, Mike Trout, is back on his team again. However, Trout and Ohtani can only do so much on their own. Have the Angels improved enough to become a playoff contender? Or are they just a .500 team, as they’ve been for almost a decade now. Kev and Jack discuss Ohtani’s performance on both sides so far, how the Angels are looking, and how this all may impact his free agency.

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