For the primary six years of his profession, Shohei Ohtani has been some of the widespread gamers in baseball resulting from his historic accomplishments and manufacturing as a two-way participant.
He has additionally been considerably of a sympathetic determine as a result of his dominance — particularly over the previous three years — has utterly gone to waste. It’s exhausting to look at a generational expertise taking part in for a second-tier franchise in Anaheim that by no means surrounded him with sufficient expertise to win.
These days at the moment are over within the wake of his unprecedented 10-year, $700 million contract signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
By becoming a member of the Dodgers, already the most effective groups in baseball, he’s going to be going through monumental expectations. He will not simply be anticipated to blast residence runs on the plate and pitch strikeouts on the mound, both.
Followers predict championships. A number of championships.
That strain goes to hold over for the remainder of the Dodgers. They’re merely out of excuses in relation to their quest for one more World Sequence.
The Dodgers have been the most effective groups in baseball for a decade. This isn’t solely resulting from an awesome farm system that has produced a endless pipeline of expertise, but in addition to possession that’s prepared to outspend everyone for top-tier gamers.
The roster already contains the likes of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. With Ohtani now within the combine, the crew could have three of essentially the most impactful hitters in baseball, all of whom had been acquired in both free company or trades.
Regardless of all of these stars, huge contracts and common season wins, the crew has as a rule fallen brief within the playoffs. The crew’s solely World Sequence over the previous decade comes with (within the eyes of some) an asterisk on condition that it happened through the COVID-shortened season. The Dodgers merely seem to be a crew that has been able to extra and retains falling brief when the video games matter essentially the most.
Although Ohtani will be unable to pitch in 2024, he’ll nonetheless present one other unbelievable energy bat to the lineup. The Dodgers ought to have the most effective offenses in baseball.
Whenever you assemble a roster like this and pay one participant $700 million whereas doing so, individuals are not going to tolerate something lower than excellence. World Sequence wins — a number of World Sequence wins — would be the expectation for each the participant and the crew. It could be unfair. The purpose could be unreachable. Championships at all times come right down to a couple of participant, after all. None of that, nevertheless, adjustments the truth that these are the expectations the Dodgers have saddled themselves with.
Nice gamers must win championships to finish their resume. Groups that spend like this must win championships to justify the {dollars}.
Ohtani can now not level to the dearth of expertise round him. The Dodgers don’t have any extra excuses.