Ohtani Shohei signed a 10-year, $700 million contract during the last offseason. In 2023, numerous predictions were made about Ohtani’s free agent contract, and the world was shocked by the record-breaking $700 million deal. A year later, his performance has been so historic that one might call that contract a bargain.
Adam McCalvy, a reporter for MLB‘s official website, published an article titled “From Mizusawa to Chavez Ravine, Ohtani’s impact spans continents.” Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten stated, “But it is true that off the field, he has brought new fans. He’s changed the mix of demographics at our stadium for games. We have changed some of the merchandise and some of the concession offerings. We have a raft of daily tours [in Japanese] we didn’t have before. We have a raft of new sponsors with Japanese connections we didn’t have before.”
The article pointed out that after seeing many predictions about what Ohtani would bring, the Dodgers made their offer but ultimately underestimated his impact. Ohtani achieved the historic 50-50 milestone and won the MVP award for two consecutive years. Additionally, the team has been inundated with sponsorship proposals from Japanese companies, marking the investment in Ohtani as a resounding success.
Kasten also mentioned, “But the most lasting contribution has been the combination of Shohei’s profile with the profile of the Dodgers franchise. It’s baseball putting its best foot forward. It’s been a boon for us and for central baseball, which is always looking at international opportunities. All of the teams share in that. It’s just been enormously positive for everybody.”
Reflecting on the $700 million contract, Kasten remarked, “In retrospect, maybe we should have seen all of this, but we were being conservative about it. He knew it was going to be great. It’s gone past great.” expressing his surprise at the unexpected Shohei Ohtani effect.
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