Shohei Ohtani reveals what went down before he signed $700m Dodgers deal: "I made my decision the night before I made the announcement"
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers officially introduced Shohei Ohtani as a member of their club. During the press conference held at Dodger Stadium, dozens of reporters from across the globe were able to pose questions to the two-time MVP.
One of the main questions that continued to emerge was why he decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani told the massive crowd of reporters that winning was the main reason he decided to sign with the team.
"I made my announcement on Instagram, and I made my decision the night before I made the announcement," he said. "And as far as why I chose the Dodgers, there’s not really one reason, there’s a lot of reasons.
"I met with a few teams at the end of the whole negotiation process, and honestly every team I met with and I had a chance to talk to, they were all great, and it was really really a tough decision for me but, at the end of the day I had to choose one team, and the Dodgers were my choice."
While he repeatedly told the audience that he did not want to delve into details about other franchises since the offseason was still rolling along, he reiterated the fact that winning is his goal.
"I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to play the game, so I do prioritize winning, that’s on top of my list and that will probably never change and that was one of the reasons why I chose this team."
The Los Angeles Dodgers shocked the world by handing out the most lucrative contract in North American sports history, signing Ohtani to an unfathomable ten-year, $700,000,000 contract.
Now, he joins one of the top franchises in the MLB and is set to play alongside two of the top players in the league, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Shohei Ohtani also revealed the name of his beloved dog during the presser
Although Ohtani's free agency was the biggest headline of the offseason so far, it was actually his beloved canine companion that was close behind. Earlier in the offseason, photos of Shohei and his dog circulated on the internet, with many predicting what its name was. Well, we found this out at the press conference as well.
It was revealed that the former Los Angeles Angels superstar gave his beloved dog two names, one Japanese and one American. Dekopin is his dog's Japanese name, with Decoy being its American name.
"So his name, Dekopin, that’s a Japanese name, and I figured it would be hard for American people to pronounce it, so he has an American name, and it’s Decoy. So yeah you could call him Decoy, or Dekopin."