MLB Consulted Dodgers Before Making 'Shohei Ohtani Rules'

Seven years ago, Major League Baseball instituted a special "two-way player" designation. It effectively served as a carveout for Shohei Ohtani to pitch with minimal restrictions.

In 2022, MLB instituted another new rule that allowed Ohtani (and other starting pitchers) to remain in a game as the designated hitter even after he is no longer pitching.

The so-called "Ohtani rules" have come under scrutiny lately, including from Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell. But MLB only put the new rules into effect after consulting with rival teams while Ohtani was playing for the Los Angeles Angels, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed in a new interview.

“When Shohei was on the Angels and MLB was considering this, they reached out to a bunch of teams, us included," Friedman told David Vassegh on Dodger Talk. "And I said, Look, from a competitive standpoint, as the Dodgers, I don't love it.

"But wearing my industry hat, what's best for the Major League Baseball, it is to do everything we can for Shohei Ohtani to be in and stay in games. And obviously with the 13 pitcher rule.”

Friedman's opinion was one of many MLB considered. The tone of last week's discourse suggests the rules met their share detractors at the time they went into effect. Perhaps Counsell was among the detractors then, too, or he just isn't as adept at putting on his "industry hat."

Regardless, the Dodgers aren't the only team who can take advantage of the rules. They just happen to employ the only two-way player deemed capable of full-time hitting and pitching by any of the 30 teams.

All teams can designate players as "two-way players" (both position players and pitchers) if they meet both of the following conditions in either the current season, or any of the two previous seasons:

1. Pitched at least 20 major league innings.
2. Started at least 20 major league games as a position player or designated hitter, with at least three plate appearances in each of those games.

The rule restricting teams to 13 hitters and 13 pitchers on their 26-man roster, in effect since 2020, exists separately of the "two-way player" designation. Former Dodgers infielder Justin Turner believes getting rid of that rule would be more fair for the other 29 teams.

"The solution is to get rid of the 13 x 13 rule for everyone," Turner said. "Let the teams structure their roster however they see best for them. It’s not about what the Dodgers get to do. It’s what the other 29 teams don’t get to do."