Shohei Ohtani introduced as a Dodger + Daniel Hudson signs and a late international addition

Chad Moriyama 12/15/2023 Dodgers News Leave A Comment

(Via @Dodgers)

If it feels like there are updates on Shohei Ohtani all the time … well, it’s hard not to have them when there’s news constantly being released about him due to his stature in the game. Of course, the most prominent event recently was his press conference that introduced him as a member of the Dodgers.

Definitely feels real now.

Andy McCullough and Stephen Nesbitt of The Athletic have an annotated transcript here.

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Perhaps the most important thing about this for bloggers is finally getting pictures of him in a Dodger uniform to use.

The man is photogenic, what can you say.

In motion as well!

He also talked to Kirsten Watson about a bunch of stuff, but obviously stated his priority is to win the World Series.

Others were also interviewed about Ohtani, most prominently being Andrew Friedman.

That segues nicely into the news that Ohtani’s contract does have an opt-out clause … if Friedman or Mark Walter leave the organization.

Ohtani, who will be formally introduced by the Dodgers at a news conference Thursday, would be allowed to terminate his deal if Mark Walter no longer is controlling owner or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman no longer is with the team, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced.

Other details include a no-trade clause, his interpreter, a suite, and a donation.

-Ohtani was given full no-trade protection, which is believed to be the first time the Dodgers have included such a protection in a player contract since Friedman took over as the top executive.
-Ohtani was guaranteed an interpreter; he has used Ippei Mizuhara ever since coming to MLB.
-Ohtani will have a stadium suite at all home games.
-Ohtani will “donate to club charity [an] amount not to exceed 1%.”

Also, perhaps the most important news of all was revealed, that being his dog’s name.

I cannot wait.

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In other news that got slightly less attention, the Dodgers have brought back right-handed reliever Daniel Hudson on a minor-league contract. If he makes the roster, he’ll earn $2 million, and he could earn another $2 million in incentives.

The incentives haven’t been mentioned yet, but even if he hits all of them, he’d still make less than the $6.5 million option the Dodgers declined over a month ago.

The main question with Hudson wasn’t whether he could still pitch, rather it was whether he still wanted to play. On his way way back from a torn ACL in his left knee in 2022, he promptly battled ankle and knee tendinitis, made three appearances in 2023, then missed the rest of the year with an MCL sprain.

When last healthy in 2022, he was dominant, posting closer numbers. A 2.22 ERA/2.04 FIP/2.74 xERA would help any team, though in a very small sample size in 2023, he did see his velocity drop over a tick. But there’s really nothing for the Dodgers to lose here, as they could end up with a back-end leverage arm for essentially zero risk.

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On the international free agent front, the Dodgers have added one more signing before the deadline today, inking right-handed pitcher Jose Cabrera.

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Also, look, shilling shirts via links like this is like a requirement at this point because they actually are very good (I must have like 30 by now) and it helps the site. Dustin had a good pitch:

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