Nov 08 (NHK) - Japanese baseball superstar Ohtani Shohei has officially become an unrestricted free agent and is capable of signing with any Major League team.
The negotiating window between him and his current team, the Los Angeles Angels, expired on Monday.
After Ohtani finished his contract with the Angels at the conclusion of the 2023 season, team executives made what is known as a qualifying offer of about 20 million dollars for next year. Ohtani has until November 14 to accept. He is already earning about 30 million dollars a year, so he will most likely turn it down.
Other teams are free to make their own offers, and Ohtani is expected to receive the richest contract in baseball history.
He is coming off another historic season and is once again a front-runner for the MVP award. He is the first player in Major League history to record ten or more wins as a pitcher and home runs as a batter two years in a row.
Ohtani will be limited to batting next year because of an elbow injury but should be back on the mound in 2025.
