Ohtani Sehei (Shohei Ohtani)

Ohtani Sehei (Shohei Ohtani)

Biography

2023: $700 million contract signing

In December 2023 Japanese , baseball player Sehei Ohtani signed a new contract with the Dodgers "MLB Angeles club, a record deal in the history of the sport. The 29-year-old athlete made a deal for 10 years, during which time he will receive $700 million.

The previous record belonged to Lionel Messi, who, in his agreement with Barcelona from 2017 to 2021, earned $674 million. True, this is still less than the contract that - according to rumors - was offered to Mbappe in Saudi Arabia (€700 million euros per year). The previous record for North America was set in 2020 - Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year contract with his team, and his cost was $450 million.

It is noteworthy that the Dodgers decided to sign Ohtani on record terms, despite the fact that the athlete is injured and cannot play at full strength. In September 2023, the Japanese underwent elbow surgery, and will not be able to appear as a pitcher until at least the second half of the 2024 season. The uniqueness of Ohtani, however, lies in the fact that he occupies two positions at once on the field, and Sehei will appear as a batter from the beginning of the season.

In the United States, the news of Ohtani's contract caused a serious stir, and in Japan, where the baseball player has been the most popular athlete for several years, it became almost the main event. The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of five national newspapers in Japan, even came out with a special issue dedicated to the Ohtani transition. And in the courtyard of the school in which Otani studied, a queue lined up to take a picture at the monument, which shows the imprint of the palm of a baseball player.

{{quote 'To all Dodgers fans, I promise to always do what's best for the team and always keep doing everything we can to be a better version of ourselves. For the rest of my career, I want to continue to strive forward not only for the Dodgers, but also for the sake of world baseball, "said Sehei^[1] }}

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