Shohei Ohtani’s free agency was shrouded in mystery, and everyone was trying to find a crumb of information as to his intended landing spot. Up until the very end, the Angels appeared to be in play to bring back the two-way superstar.
Not even Ohtani’s former teammates knew what he planned on doing this offseason — but one of them had his guesses. During an interview on the Jack Vita Show, Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon revealed he did not believe that Ohtani would return to Anaheim,
“Nah, I didn’t think he was coming back,” Rendon said. “He had to explore somewhere else right. And just the fact that what he does to the game of baseball, they’re gonna make so much money off of it. It’s unbelievable.”
Listed, by Forbes, as the second most valuable team in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers basically print money. They have an enormous television deal and have the highest attendance in baseball. That said, with Ohtani, the Dodgers are tapping into the Japanese market setting themselves up to make even more.
Last year, Ohtani made $40 million in endorsements alone — far more than any other baseball player. The endorsement money allowed Ohtani to approach the Dodgers with the plan to defer $680 million of his record-breaking $700 million contract.
After signing with Los Angeles, Ohtani broke Fanatics’ record for jersey sales within the first 48 hours of release. The average ticket price this year for Opening Day soared over $300 just to get in the door to see Ohtani.
Ohtani certainly draws a crowd, and the Dodgers will be the beneficiaries of that for the next decade. He’s also a pretty good baseball player, too.
