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Shohei Ohtani has been the talk of the town since signing his $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is a record contract across sports and Ohtani has been the subject of countless of headlines spanning from his baseball career to his off-field activities.
Ohtani has been in a giving mood this winter. He gave Ashley Kelly, the wife of his new teammate, Joe Kelly, a Porsche for her part in recruiting him to LA and has followed that up with a heartwarming gift in early 2024.
This time, Ohtani has given an autographed pair of New Balance-branded cleats to Dodgers prospect Kendall Williams.
While Ohtani has been busy making friends with his teammates, he has also been recruiting more stars for the Dodgers as they make a bid for a World Series push in 2024.
Shohei Ohtani has been actively helping LA Dodgers recruit superstars
Shohei Ohtani is not just on board with the Dodgers' vision for the future but is helping to promote it to prospective teammates. Much has been said about Ohtani being a decisive factor in LA landing Yoshinobo Yamamoto. Jon Morosi of MLB Network said at the time:
"I was told simply by a source who knows the Japanese baseball scene very well. ... Yamamoto simply wanted to be a Dodger and play with Ohtani, in no particular order."
That's not all, as after signing an extension with the Dodgers following a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, Tyler Glasnow spoke to Chris Rose Sports. He discussed how Shohei Ohtani reached out to him:
"Yeah, he sent me a video before the trade, like closer the trade and said, 'I want you to join the team, I hope to join you in the pitching staff next year' and then that he wants to hit home runs for me and the team."I was like, 'Wow! That's pretty cool!'"
Glasnow said that this wasn't what made him decide to sign for LA but it "definitely did a little something."
We will see if Ohtani can work his magic and lead the Dodgers to a big decade with the team.
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