Dodgers clear +550 favorites to win the World Series
The secretive free agent bidding war for Shohei Ohtani reached the end on Saturday when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed the two-way superstar to a 10-year, $700 million contract. The Ohtani signing was the end to 24 wild hours in baseball, as fans flocked to FlightAware and FlightRadar24 to stalk a private plane from Santa Ana to Toronto throughout the day on Friday, only to find out that businessman and investor Robert Herjavec was on the flight.
Ohtani’s contract features a lot of deferred money, with actual figures not released as of yet, but the terms of the deal were reportedly suggested by Shohei and his representation so that the Dodgers had more funds available to chase down a World Series title.
Dodgers World Series odds
The Dodgers were among the favorites to win the World Series anyway, but the addition of Ohtani made them the clear-cut favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook at +550, with other books moving from +800 to +600.
Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery in September to repair his damaged ulnar collateral ligament and he will not pitch during the 2024 season, but he will be able to be the designated hitter. His true market value is in being the game’s lone two-way player as both a hitter and pitcher and his historic contract is representative of that. However, with starting pitching needs for this season, the Dodgers will have to look elsewhere.