Baseball fans reacts to Padres high odds of landing potential $600,000,000 star Shohei Ohtani: "They have a better chance of nuking their roster"

Shohei Ohtani's injury has come at a bad time as the Japanese star faces free agency at the end of the season. He is expected to be out of pitching action for some time having suffered a UCL tear during the series against the Cincinnati Reds.

This leaves his new contract talks up for grabs as teams might be tempted to propose lower numbers as it is unlikely for Ohtani to pitch in 2024.

The San Diego Padres, who were looking to land his services, have been given a chance by analyst Jon Heyman as the second-best team to do so.

Fans took exception to this on Twitter, as they feel the Padres are already burnt out after a heavy payroll and bad record this season:

Ohtani has been with the Los Angeles Angels throughout his career. In 2018, he showed the world his two-way prowess after coming to the MLB, and he has kept on improving over the years. After two stellar seasons, the 29-year-old has had a historic 2023 becoming the first player to record 10 wins and 40 home runs in a season.

However, the workload toil was always going to show on him. During his start against the Reds on Wednesday, Ohtani was pulled from the mound after just 1.1 innings. He came back to hit in the second game of the doubleheader but reports later in the day suggested he had a torn UCL.

How much money is Shohei Ohtani expected to lose?

Shohei Ohtani's lack of pitching will affect his impact as a two-way player. Because of his unparalleled utility, he was expected to attract contracts even in excess of $600 million.

Looking at how things stand, taking a short one-year contract and heading back to free agency might also be an option as he looks to get back on the mound in 2025.

Regardless even just by his hitting abilities, Shohei Ohtani will be offered some of the biggest contracts of all time.