6 Years Later, The Dodgers Get Their Man In Shohei Ohtani. Can He Bring A Title To Chavez Ravine?

The Dodgers have finally gotten their man. It’ll cost them an astounding $700 million over 10 years, but they’ve done it.

It comes exactly six years after they missed out on signing Japanese superstar slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani. On Dec. 9, 2017, he chose to sign with the Angels to begin his Major League Baseball career.

The Dodgers had wanted him then. They were the team that had signed pitcher Hideo Nomo, MLB’s first great Japanese player, in 1995. More stars from Japan followed him to L.A,. along with excellent players from South Korea and Taiwan.

But not Ohtani. He teamed up in Anaheim with another superstar — Mike Trout — for what should have been a glorious six years for Angel fans.

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They have been for Ohtani. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2017, the Most Valuable Player in 2021 and 2023. He’s played like no one in the game’s history, an ace on the mound and a devastating hitter at the plate. Major League Baseball even changed a rule to accommodate his rare skills.

Even so, all six of Ohtani’s seasons with the Angels have ended with losing records and the team far from the playoffs.

If you saw the joy on Ohtani’s face when he and Team Japan won the World Baseball Classic last year, you knew how badly he wanted to play on a winner. He knew what winning felt like. Ohtani was the two-way star on the Nippon Ham Fighters when they won the Japan Series in 2016.

Shohei Ohtani reacts after the final out in the top of the 9th inning to defeat Team USA 3-2 during World Baseball Classic Championship in Miami on March 21, 2023.

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Christopher Pasatieri

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Getty Images

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While the Angels have been losing despite Ohtani’s greatness, up the freeway, the last six years have seen the Dodgers in the playoffs every time. But playoffs are one thing; World Series titles are something else.

The Dodgers have the 2020 Series ring, but they wanted more, so for the past year they’ve been lining themselves up for this day. They let talented players leave for big paydays from other teams. They scrimped on signing free agents during the last offseason. They played it cool at the trading deadline last summer. Four teams had bigger payrolls last season than the Dodgers.

It was all for this day — Dec. 9, 2023. Six years to the day when they missed out on signing Ohtani, they’ve finally gotten their man. Or maybe their man has finally gotten the winning team thought he would get in Anaheim.