Baseball: Latest MLB Odds on Where Shohei Ohtani Lands

Toronto baseball fans – indeed sports fans in general – are abuzz this week amid multiple media reports that generational two-way baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani might sign as a free agent with the Blue Jays.
Ohtani, 29, just won his second league MVP in a row, beating out Texas Rangers’ teammates Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. He batted .304, with 44 homeruns and 95 RBIs in 599 trips to the plate with the Anaheim Angels last season. His OPS was 1.066 – first in the league.

Ohtani also started 23 times as a pitcher in 2023 - 132 innings pitched - and had a 3.14 ERA, with 167 strikeouts. And those stats were in a season that was cut short by UCL surgery. Whoever signs him for 2024 will only be able to call on his bat next season and will have to wait for the following season to get him back on the pitching mound.

⚾ Discover Shohei Ohtani's transfer betting odds at BetRivers ⚾

Financial Implications for the Blue Jays

It’s going to take a massive overpay for Blue Jays’ owners Rogers Communications to bring him north of the U.S. border, but you see the logic in it. Rogers is currently tearing apart the lower bowl of the Rogers Centre, adding luxury-style amenities, more spacious seating, jacking tickets prices up dramatically, pricing out people who have been season ticket owners there for years. 

The objective is to turn the lower bowl Blue Jays live experience into something similar to the NHL’s Maple Leafs and NBA’s Raptors – more exclusive, for the city’s upper crust, financially. That’s what it’s going to take to justify a $200+ million-plus team payroll, which is where the Jays are at now, and that’s the type of commitment that might lure a player the stature of Ohtani to Toronto, to play alongside players like Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr., two players that soon will also be commanding big raises. Passan said Ohtanti’s next contract will go beyond $500 million.

Still, doesn’t the talk just spike the senses? Can you imagine the impact on tickets, merchandise, TV ratings, with a team that monopolizes an entire country? The Boston Herald is reporting this morning that it looks like the Red Sox are out on Ohtani, so that’s one more competitor off the board. Baseball journalist Jeff Passan is reporting today that the Ohtani chase is down to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Blue Jays and Angels.

And as you can imagine, online sportsbooks are seeing all this play out, and are now jumping on board, offering Ohtani free agent betting markets.

⚾ Discover Shohei Ohtani's transfer betting odds at Northstar Bets ⚾

Betting Odds on Ohtani's Next Team

How does it all look?

• According to BetRivers this morning, it’s the Dodgers still on top, with the shortest odds at 1.91. “Any Other Team”, and the Jays would be in there, is next at 4.00, followed by the Cubs (5.00), San Francisco Giants (9.00), then re-signing with the Angels at 11.00.
• Recent NorthStar Bets odds had it: Dodgers 2.00, Jays 5.50, Cubs 6.00, Giants 9.00.
• At DraftKings, it's the Dodgers at 1.95, Cubs 4.70, Jays 6.00, Giants 10.50, and New York Yankess 13.00.

The MLB off-season is about to heat up with the winter meetings in Nashville next week. Keep your mobile phone handy for updates on MLB betting odds about Ohtani's transfer.

⚾ Discover Shohei Ohtani's transfer betting odds at DraftKings ⚾

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