Fred's Ramblings

The end of Shohei Ohtani’s six-year run with the Los Angeles Angeles has come to pass and he now begins a new chapter in his career as a Los Angeles Dodger. He has signed a 10 year deal worth $700 dollars that is supposedly heavily deferred allowing the Dodgers to remain competitive in the free agent market going forward. That at least indicates that Ohtani’s desire to be on a winning team was real. He will likely become the next Bobby Bonilla, collecting a yearly salary long after he has retired.

Now come the questions…Is he actually worth that kind of money considering the injuries he has had lately. It is common knowledge that he will not be pitching in 2024, already placing him in the “normal” category of many other free agents. Assuming he will be able to pitch in 2025 and beyond, you have to assume that the $700 is money well spent. Time will tell however and history has shown that these long term contracts turn out to be albatrosses in the latter part of the deal.

Spring training is not that far away and as a Dodgers fan, I for one am looking forward to the coming year. Now to get some pitching to go along with the offense. Let’s Play Ball…