Shohei Ohtani might not solve everything… but he’s a good place to start.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, free agent Shohei Ohtani is far and away the top target this offseason, at least according to rumors and reports. The Dodgers have set themselves up for a serious run at the superstar in the hopes that he can be the difference maker that gets the club over the postseason wall they’ve run into the last few Octobers.
For as good as Ohtani is, he might not be exactly everything LA needs this winter. But, in the eyes of Dodgers analyst Jerry Hairson Jr, he’s a great place to start.
In a recent conversation with Doug McKain of DodgersNation.com, Hairston shared his thoughts on Shohei and whether he would be the answer to the problem for Dave Roberts and company.
“I don’t think he’s the answer [to all the postseason problems], but I think that he can be that foundation piece. But, is one person or one player the answer in baseball? This is not basketball. In baseball, you need to make sure you have foundational pieces. When you have enough foundational pieces, that increases your chances of winning. So, you put a guy like Shohei Ohtani with a guy like Freddie Freeman, with a guy like Mookie Betts plus Gavin Lux, Will Smith and the young guys, yes, you increase your chances of winning not only a lot of ballgames, but winning in the postseason.”
Via DodgersNationTV
Certainly, Shohei isn’t enough on his own. The last six years down in Anaheim will tell you that much. But while he and Mike Trout haven’t been able to get it done at Angel Stadium, in LA the Dodgers base level of talent is leagues better than the Halos.
Ohtani isn’t the missing piece, per se, but he’s a big piece that adds a generational bat to the lineup in 2024 and also brings an ace-level arm along with the bat in 2025.
He won’t come cheap this winter, with some predictions having him field $500-$600 million offers from clubs this offseason. But money is just money. The Dodgers have mostly stayed out of the free agency market in recent years — Freddie Freeman aside — and in 2022 and 2023 it may have cost them to a degree in the postseason.
In short, don’t let Shohei Ohtani not be a Los Angeles Dodger just because you’re worried about paying him a premium in his late 30s. Sometimes you need to overpay down the road to win now in sports.
