Shohei Ohtani to sign with Los Angeles Dodgers

The biggest MLB offseason domino has fallen. As announced by the player himself, Shohei Ohtani is signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani's deal will include more guaranteed money than any other in sports history, though most of it is deferred, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

In 2023, Ohtani led the majors with 9.0 fWAR, accumulating 6.6 as a hitter and 2.4 as a pitcher. He became the only player ever to win his league's MVP award unanimously multiple times (he also did so in 2021).

Ohtani has been a full-fledged two-way player for the last three seasons, but he'll be confined to position player duties in 2024 while recovering from elbow surgery. Even so, we're talking about a phenom who just led all qualified hitters with a 180 wRC+ while homering 44 times and added above-average baserunning.

With Ohtani taking over as DH of the Dodgers, sure seems like the door is closed for J.D. Martinez to re-sign with them. Martinez slashed .271/.321/.572 (135 wRC+) in 113 games for the Dodgers during his age-35 season. The South Florida native would be an intriguing short-term pickup for the Marlins.

There's no evidence that the Marlins negotiated with Ohtani at any point during his free agent process. Teams linked to him that fell short in the bidding include the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays. It's particularly painful news for Blue Jays fans after J.P. Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation erroneously reported on Friday that Ohtani was signing with Toronto.

Ohtani previously played at LoanDepot Park in 2022 as a member of the Angels and for Samurai Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The Marlins will host the Dodgers during their final homestand of the 2024 regular season, from Sept. 17-19.

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