Baseball has never seen a player like Shohei Ohtani. The sport has also never seen anything like the record-breaking 10-year, $700 million (¥99.4 billion) contract he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.
Ohtani is a comic book character come to life. He hits at an elite level, pitches at an elite level and can run like the wind. There have been two-way players in baseball’s distant past, such as Babe Ruth and various Negro League stars, but none like Ohtani.
His deal with the Dodgers is equally unique and could impact the team in such a way that people may one day view a $700 million contract — believed to be the largest in global sports history, according to MLB.com — as a bargain.