All you need to know about when Shohei Ohtani started playing in the MLB and how he ended up being an Angel.
The Los Angeles Angels were able to land Shohei Ohtani after emerging victorious in the sweepstakes for his services during the summer of the 2017 baseball season. After a frantic wooing from all 30 Major League teams, Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Baseball, released a statement on Friday confirming that the Japanese two-way phenom has opted to join the Angels. The statement also revealed that Ohtani will be playing in the American League.
On Saturday afternoon, the club held a press conference at Angel Stadium during which they introduced Ohtani to the media. In the race for Ohtani, the Mariners, Rangers, Dodgers, Padres, and Giants were the other teams who made it to the final round.
Ohtani was signed by the Angels, and as part of the deal, the Angels used the remaining $2.315 million in their international bonus pool. In addition, the Angels will pay the Nippon-Ham Fighters an additional posting fee of $20 million.
Ohtani could have certainly commanded a contract worth around $200 million had he waited two years before going to the United States as an unrestricted free agent. But, money was not anticipated to be a deciding factor in Ohtani’s decision to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. Currently, Ohtani is preparing himself for the possibility of signing a contract worth close to 600 million dollars.
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