Category: MLB Articles

Shohei Ohtani Signs to the L.A. Dodgers

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire

At just 29 years of age, Shohei Ohtani was the most sought-after MLB player this offseason because of the incredible talent he possesses in pitching and hitting. His last three seasons of greatness culminated in him receiving a record-breaking $700 million contract over the next 10 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. For context, the highest-paid contract before this was a 12-year $426.5 million deal given to his former teammate Mike Trout.

Ohtani earned this massive contract because he was the American League MVP during the 2021 and 2023 seasons, while also finishing as the MVP runner-up to Aaron Judge in 2022. Additionally, Ohtani finished 4th place in votes for the American League Cy Young Award in 2022, which showcased his pitching prowess.

During his 2021 MVP season, Ohtani led the American League in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with 9. He led that statistic again in 2023 with 10.1, even though his season was cut short due to an elbow injury.

His injury occurred while pitching during a game in late August, and it was known that he could not pitch for the rest of the season. He tried to play as the designated hitter over the next couple of weeks, but he eventually focused on healing the injury due to the Los Angeles Angels being eliminated from playoff contention.

Despite missing the final month of the season in 2023, Ohtani was so dominant across the board that he still won the MVP Award. He finished his 2023 campaign with comparable stats to his 2021 season, but he had greatly improved his batting average and on-base plus slugging percentage. This drastic improvement made it obvious that he was the best player in the American League and arguably all of baseball.

Although Ohtani will be unable to pitch until the 2025 MLB season, he will still be able to showcase his hitting ability as the designated hitter for the L.A. Dodgers throughout 2024.

It is important to note that the L.A. Dodgers also signed coveted pitching prospect Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a $325 million contract over the next 12 years. Yamamoto will be a rookie in 2024, as he was signed from Nippon Professional Baseball, which is Japan’s highest-level baseball league.

Yamamoto and Ohtani were teammates during the World Baseball Classic in 2023, as they aided Team Japan in winning the tournament. The L.A. Dodgers signing Ohtani will help ease the transition from Japan to America for Yamamoto, which could be imperative for the upcoming season.

These two offseason moves have led to many fans believing that the L.A. Dodgers should win the World Series multiple times over the next decade, as their roster continues to accumulate superstar talent.

Will the MLB Season Withstand COVID-19

The MLB season kicked off less than a week ago, but COVID-19 cases are already being spotted over quite a few teams. Currently, there are already 4 teams that have at least one player with the virus.

There is already immense concern surrounding the MLB season because the Miami Marlins have a total of 17 reported cases within the team. Their number of cases is jarring and has required them to postpone multiple games. Not only does this jeopardize Miami’s season, but it also makes you wonder if the MLB season will have to be canceled because of the outbreak among teams.

The Marlins have played a total of five games within the past week, and they have used the visitor locker rooms of the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. Their series against the Phillies ended three days ago, but the Marlins players cannot fly out of Philadelphia because they tested positive for COVID-19. This puts the Phillies in a predicament because they may be subject to an outbreak within the team, much like the Marlins.

In light of this, the MLB has opted to force the Phillies to also postpone their next few games in order to receive additional testing. Despite playing the Marlins during Spring Training one week ago, the Braves are continuing to play their schedule. This is worrisome because the Braves could be under similar circumstances to the Phillies and be unintentionally plaguing other teams.

Ultimately, we are not even a full week into this MLB season and it is already beginning to spiral out of control. With the season progressing like this, the MLB season may have to be canceled within the next few weeks because the virus can easily spread to every team.

While it has been exciting to watch sports again, the MLB may have underestimated the sheer difficulty of safely traveling from one COVID-19 hot spot to another so frequently. If you look at how the NBA is handling their season and compare it to how the MLB has handled its season, you will see a drastic difference in rules and precautions.

For example, the NBA chose one location that will be the setting for all its games and forced all teams to quarantine around that location. This seems to be the best way to play a season during the pandemic because it lowers the risk of a team dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the MLB has chosen to force teams to travel nonstop and expose their players to the virus.

The Houston Astros Scandal and Its Effect on the MLB

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Baseball has been surrounded by numerous scandals throughout its history. Unfortunately, the scandals continue to accumulate and are making the sport difficult to appreciate.

The Astros cheating scandal is not only discouraging, but it is also disappointing. For the majority of my life, the Astros have been a team that has seen little to no success. However, they finally attained deep runs in the playoffs the past few years and had many baseball fans supporting them.

Hurricane Harvey was a major reason for the massive support from the baseball community, and it felt like a fairy tale ending when the Astros found a way to win the championship in 2017. Although, the fairy tale turned into a nightmare eight months ago when it was reported that they had been cheating during the 2017 season.

Furthermore, there has been speculation that they have also been cheating throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Thankfully, the Washington Nationals were able to defeat the Astros during the 2019 World Series and acquired their first Championship in franchise history.

This situation has deservedly turned the Houston Astros into the most hated organization of the MLB. One of the major issues is that the past three MLB seasons have been stolen from other teams in the league.

If the Astros did not cheat, would they have still made it to the World Series? The answer to that question will never be answered, but I would argue that they might not have even passed the Divisional Round without cheating.

Not only did they steal another team’s chance at a World Series, but they also stole awards from other players in the league. One of their star players, Jose Altuve, won the 2017 American League MVP award over Aaron Judge. Judge was having an incredible rookie season with 52 home runs, 114 RBI, and an impressive .422 on-base percentage.

Ultimately, the Astros were fined $5 million and had their first and second-round picks over the next two seasons taken away. However, they were able to retain their 2017 World Series win. By allowing the Astros to keep their World Series, it is sending the message to the rest of the league that cheating is worthwhile.

Baseball is in an awful position from this scandal, and I do not know if the Astros will ever be able to regain their credibility. However, since sports have been gone for so long, this next season is the sport’s best chance to bounce back from the controversy.