Ohtani FA Negotiations 'Final Stage'

The next destination of Shohei Ohtani (29), a "baseball genius" who doubles as a pitcher and batter in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), is expected to be decided soon.

Ohtani and his agent in Los Angeles, California, this weekend, and Ohtani's free agent negotiations have entered the final stage. While the Los Angeles Dodgers are leading the negotiations, Toronto, the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco, and the Los Angeles Angels are also known to maintain interest in Ohtani.

Texas, New York Mets, and Boston, which decided to focus on recruiting other players, reportedly withdrew their intention to recruit Ohtani. Local media predicted that Ohtani would sign a contract worth more than $500 million (about 649.5 billion won) for the first time in the history of the big league. SportsNet said, "Otani's decision will have a huge ripple effect on the major league industry," adding, "His decision is expected to be made soon." 스포츠토토

Ohtani, who made his big league debut in the Angels uniform in 2018, has established the league as a "superstar" representing the Major League, with a batting average of 0.274, 171 home runs and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.922 over the past six years as a pitcher. Ohtani, who recorded 10-5 losses with a 3.14 ERA as a pitcher, 0.304 44 home runs as a batter and 1.066 OPS, was unanimously named the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP).

However, Ohtani will only play as a batter next season as he underwent elbow ligament joint surgery in September. There were observations that the history of surgery would adversely affect his contract, but as many clubs enter the race to recruit Ohtani, an unprecedented mega-contract is expected to be made.