Shohei Ohtani in Dodgers uniform left Dave Roberts speechless - "I'm still in the pinch-me phase"
Shohei Ohtani's arrival at the Los Angeles Dodgers has everyone excited. Even manager Dave Roberts seems to be thrilled with the announcements as the team has cashed in on a generational talent.
Dave Roberts has been the manager for the Dodgers since 2016. He has led the team to three World Series appearances since then, winning one in 2020. Despite strong performances in the last three years where they have notched 100+ wins, the Dodgers have lacked the potency to make it big in the postseason.
Shohei Ohtani's addition to the team is likely to solve the problem. The Japanese star signed a ten-year $700 million contract with the team after six years of MLB experience with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani was presented to the Dodgers fanbase for the first time the previous day during a press conference. After the first public appearance, Roberts exclaimed his disbelief that the star two-way player had finally signed with the organization.
“I’m still in the pinch-me phase to be quite honest,’’ Roberts said. “This is what we dream of. It’s a great day in baseball, Dodgers history, and this is where the center of the sports world flashed. What a day.’’
Dave Roberts played a major part in getting Shohei Ohtani to the team
Dave Roberts met with Shohei Ohtani during the Winter Meetings for a brief amount of time which helped the Japanese superstar make his choice. Afterward, the manager was reprimanded for publicly accepting the meeting:
"I like to be honest," Roberts said during his media session from the site of the winter meetings. "Yeah, we met with Shohei, we talked. And I think it went well. I think it went well. But at the end of the day, he's his own man. And he's going to do what's best for himself, where he feels most comfortable."
The Dodgers are expected to heavily benefit from the Ohtani deal as a majority of it is supposed to go through deferrals which leaves a huge amount of money that the team can use to sign other free agents.
While this will work out in the short term, come 2034 when the annual $68 million payments begin, this deal could age badly.