Columnist Floats Nightmare Shohei Ohtani Scenario for Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are MLB’s villain. The back-to-back reigning World Series champions have been perennial contenders, if not favorites, for the last decade-plus thanks to their ever-willingness to spend and land the best players who become available in free agency or via trade.

While there have been plenty of splashy acquisitions in recent years, none have been bigger than Shohei Ohtani. That deal has been a smashing success so far, however, columnist Bill Plaschke believes that a potential sale of the team by owner Mark Walter could lead to the ultimate nightmare scenario for the Dodgers: Ohtani leaving.

Plaschke wrote:

“While Andrew Friedman supplies the talent and Kasten works the business, none of it is possible without the seemingly endless flood of money approved by Walter. Well, the end might be near.

If Walter sells the team, they could possibly lose their two MVPS — Friedman and Ohtani. Unless the new owners give Friedman a piece of the team, he could set off to build another dynasty elsewhere. And Ohtani has a clause famously included in his contract that allows him to leave if Friedman or Walter leaves. If Walters goes, Ohtani could demand a new contract with terms that a new cash-strapped owner cannot afford… Now baseball’s best owner is suddenly its most embattled owner, and Dodgers fans should be afraid. Very afraid,”

The 32-year-old Ohtani is in year three of the 10-year, $700 million mega-contract he signed to join the Dodgers in 2023, which includes said rare “key man” opt-out clause if Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman leave the organization.