Los Angeles, February 6, 2024 – Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar, believes his team’s considerable financial investments are ultimately a positive for Major League Baseball, stating that fan spending fuels the ability to build a winning roster.
A Winning Formula? Ohtani Defends Dodgers’ Spending
The two-time MVP champions are sparking debate about competitive balance in the sport.
- ohtani expressed support for the Dodgers’ ownership group and their commitment to fielding a competitive team.
- The Dodgers’ projected payroll exceeds $400 million for the upcoming season,substantially higher than most other teams.
- discussions surrounding a salary cap in MLB are intensifying as the collective bargaining agreement nears its expiration.
- Ohtani is promoting his new children’s book, “Decoy Saves Opening Day,” with proceeds benefiting animal shelters.
“Yeah, I think with what the ownership group has done… is great,” Ohtani said through a translator during an interview. “I mean, obviously the fans pay money to, they buy tickets and they, you know, they come to the game. So I think that money is being… used back to sign these, these great players, and put up, put out a winning product on the field.”
Ohtani, a Japanese icon coming off his third consecutive MVP season and a World Series championship with the Dodgers last fall, attributed the team’s large payroll to a desire to reward fan support and deliver a winning team. “And knowing that this team has a chance to win and we can bring it, bring it home to the fans,” he continued.
Beyond baseball, Ohtani is currently promoting his debut children’s book, “Decoy Saves Opening Day,” which features his dog, Decoy, with proceeds going to support animal shelters. He shared that the book was inspired by the upcoming arrival of his daughter.
“The initial idea was, basically, I had my daughter coming soon,” he explained. “So timing wise, I felt it was… a nice time to maybe be able to read her a book about my story, as well as our dog Decoy’s story. That it’d be kind of cool if we could do that together.”
Ohtani, who signed a $700 million deal with the Dodgers before the 2024 season, has already made a significant impact, hitting 109 home runs and scoring 180 runs in his first two seasons with the team, earning an MVP award and a World Series title each year. He previously played for the Los Angeles Angels.
Reflecting on his first world Series win,Ohtani said,”So the first year,my first World Series,you know,I had never experienced the postseason at all. So, like, just to be able to experience [the] postseason, get to the World Series and win it was obviously very special. But this second year was, it was a lot harder, you know, obviously a lot more pressure that was put on the team.”
As pitchers and catchers prepare for spring training next week, Ohtani expressed his ambition to contribute to a team aiming for an incredibly rare three-peat championship. “As you look back at history, there’s only been a, you know, small group of teams that have three-peated,” Ohtani said. “The task is going to be very difficult. However, I do hope that, you know, when I retire and I look back and I can be able to say that, hey, I was on that team that won three, three championships in a row. That would be very cool.”
