“The Dodgers, like Mookie Betts, can make a huge move at the trade deadline and bypass all other teams and sign directly.”
It is clear that the Los Angeles Dodgers are going all-in to prospective free agent Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels). In the 2022-2023 free agency market, he signed a one-year contract with Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, and JD Martinez one after another. Instead, he parted ways with prominent players such as Trey Turner (Philadelphia Phillies), Justin Turner (Boston Red Sox), and Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs).
In other words, a year later, in the 2023-2024 FA market, it is like having a device that can create a completely new board. For the Dodgers, it should be seen as a paving stone to minimize the luxury tax burden by reducing payroll and widening the range of maneuver as much as possible in the bid to sign Ohtani, who is being talked about at least $500 million.
However, the Dodgers Nation said on the 19th (hereinafter Korean time), “Ohtani is ready to play the final year of the contract before entering the free agent market. The Dodgers could avoid it altogether and make a huge move at the trade deadline like Mookie Betts, bypassing all the other teams and signing straight away.” 안전놀이터
Just as the Mets were acquired through a trade in 2020, Ohtani is also expected to be acquired through a trade rather than a free agent. The Angels declared that Ohtani cannot be traded this off-season, and the state of the club being released is a variable. However, no one believes the Angels’ non-trade policy.
If the Dodgers actually try to acquire Ohtani during the 2023 season or ahead of next year’s trade deadline, thank you to the Angels. This is because you can receive a huge amount of money in return and start rebuilding. There is nothing to be gained by giving Ohtani to the Dodgers in the free agency market a year later.