Shohei Ohtani has confirmed he is to join the Los Angeles Dodgers on a record-breaking contract after ending his six-year spell with the LA Angels.
The 29-year-old Japanese free agent, whose agent said he has agreed a 700million dollar (£558m) 10-year deal which would make him the highest earner in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, ended fevered speculation over his destination in a social media post on Saturday night.
The extent of the deal was revealed in a statement from his agent Nez Balelo, which described it as a “unique, historic contract for a unique, historic player”.
While the Dodgers have not made an official statement, their website carried headlines saying it was “Sho Time” and describing the deal as a “700m stunner”. MLB posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Hollywood just added another star”.
Ohtani is unusual in that he plays as a pitcher and a hitter, becoming regarded as one of the best in the game on both sides of the ball since his Angels debut in 2018.
He won his second American League MVP award in 2023, despite an elbow injury which curtailed his season and will prevent him from pitching in 2024.
Ohtani wrote on his official Instagram account: “To all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team.
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“First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the Angels organization and the fans who have supported me over the past six years, as well as to everyone involved with each team that was part of this negotiation process.
“Especially to the Angels fans who supported me through all the ups and downs, your guys’ support and cheer meant the world to me. The six years I spent with the Angels will remain etched in my heart forever.
“And to all Dodgers fans, I pledge to always do what’s best for the team and always continue to give it my all to be the best version of myself.
“Until the last day of my playing career, I want to continue to strive forward not only for the Dodgers, but for the baseball world.”
The previous record contract in MLB was the 426.5m (£340m) the Angels paid to outfielder Mike Trout as part of a 12-year deal in 2019.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ 10-year 450m (£359m) extension, agreed in September, was the previous highest in US sports.
MLB: Quintana earns 100th victory as Mets extend winning streak to 9
Jose Quintana pitched into the seventh inning for his 100th career victory and J.D. Martinez capped a four-run seventh with a two-run double as the New York Mets won their ninth straight game, 4-0 over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Quintana allowed five hits over 6 2/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. He became the 19th active pitcher with 100 wins.
Adam Ottavino, Danny Young and Edwin Díaz completed the six-hitter for New York's seventh shutout this season - all since July 11.
A slumping Harrison Bader homered to spark the big sixth for the Mets, who have won nine straight games for the first time since April 2018. New York hasn’t trailed in its last 72 innings since Aug. 30 - the longest streak in the majors this season.
Bader was mired in skids of 0 for 15 and 2 for 43 before connecting off Sam Moll in the sixth. It was Bader's 11th home run of the year, and first to the opposite field.
Pete Alonso hit a one-out RBI single before Martinez’s double capped the outburst.
Francisco Lindor’s career-high 16-game hitting streak ended as he went 0 for 3, but his sixth-inning walk pushed his on-base streak to 35 games, the longest active run in the majors and the longest single-season streak in Mets history.
Royals rally past Twins
Bobby Witt Jr. highlighted a four-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking single, and the Kansas City Royals defeated Minnesota 4-2 to open a 1 1/2-game lead over the Twins for the second AL wild card.
Held to one hit over seven innings by Bailey Ober, the Royals rallied against Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax, winning their third straight following a season-high, seven-game losing streak.
Kansas City is second behind Cleveland in the AL Central and Minnesota is third after losing four of five.
Duran entered with a 2-0 lead and gave up a one-out single to Freddy Fermin, then hit Robbie Grossman with a pitch. Kyle Isbel hit an RBI single and Jax relieved, trying for a five-out save.
Tommy Pham hit a slow four-hopper to Brooks Lee and reached on an infield hit as the shortstop barehanded the ball and bounced his throw past first. Pinch-runner Dairon Blanco, who had been on second, scored on the error.
Witt looped a single into short center as Isbel scored for a 3-2 lead. MJ Melendez drove in Pham with a two-out single off Jax, who blew a save for the fifth time in 13 chances.
Yankees shut out Cubs again
Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes combined on a four-hitter, and the New York Yankees clinched their 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Chicago Cubs 2-0.
Schmidt pitched 4 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his first big league game since May 26 and Cortes closed it out in his first relief appearance since 2021.
Coupled with Baltimore's 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay, New York moved back into first in the AL East. The Yankees lead the Orioles by a half-game.
New York posted its second straight shutout to secure its first series win since it took two of three against Colorado from Aug. 23-25. The 32 straight seasons with a winning record is the second-longest such period in major league history, trailing a run of 39 consecutive seasons for the Yankees from 1926-64.
Chicago has lost four of five on a crucial homestand as it tries to rally in the race for the third NL wild card. It beat Pittsburgh 12-0 on Wednesday, but has managed a total of three other runs in its last five games, getting shut out three times.
MLB: Vientos hits 2nd home run of game in 10th to give Mets eighth straight win
Mark Vientos’ second home run of the game was a walk-off two-run shot in the 10th inning that gave the New York Mets their season-high eighth straight win, 6-4 over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.
New York is riding its longest winning streak since an eight-game run in August 2019. Vientos also connected in the first inning for the Mets, who remained tied with Atlanta for the last National League wild card.
Mets closer Edwin Díaz and younger brother Alexis, the Reds' ace reliever, pitched in the same game for the first time in their major league careers.
Edwin Díaz struck out all three batters in the top of the ninth, fanning Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer with 100 mph fastballs.
Alexis Díaz worked a hitless bottom of the ninth to keep the score tied.
With automatic runner Brandon Nimmo on second base, Vientos drove a 2-2 fastball from Justin Wilson to left field for his 24th home run.
Cincinnati was coming off a three-game sweep of AL West-leading Houston and had won four in a row overall.
Machado ties Padres’ home run record
Manny Machado hit a pair of home runs to tie Nate Colbert for the franchise’s all-time record with 163 as the San Diego Padres defeated the San Francisco Giants, 5-1.
Machado had a solo shot in the first and then matched Colbert with a drive into the second deck in left field leading off the eighth.
He tied Colbert with 20 games to go in his sixth season in San Diego. Colbert hit 163 in six seasons with the Padres, from their expansion season of 1969 through 1974. He played for four other teams in his career and had 173 total homers.
Machado's 25th of the season gave him 42 multi-homer games since his rookie year of 2012.
Machado has 338 homers in his 13-year career. He had 162 with Baltimore and then 13 after being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 18, 2018. He signed as a free agent with the Padres on Feb. 21, 2019.
Astros’ Alvarez hits pair of 3-run homers
Yordan Alvarez hit two three-run homers and Framber Valdez pitched seven innings in the Houston Astros' 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
AL West-leading Houston got back on track after being swept in a three-game series at Cincinnati to remain 4 ½ games ahead of Seattle.
Houston led by a run when Alvarez, whose six RBIs are a season high, connected off Brandon Pfaadt in the fifth inning to make it 4-0. Jose Altuve hit an RBI single in the sixth, and Alvarez homered again in his next at-bat, this time to the bullpen in right-center off Jordan Montgomery, to extend it to 8-0.
Alvarez had his seventh multi-homer game to tie Chris Carter (2014) for the most in a season in franchise history. It’s his second this week after also slugging two in a win over Kansas City at home Sunday after he hadn’t homered at Minute Maid Park since June 22.
Valdez allowed just two singles and struck out seven after pitching seven innings of no-hit ball in his last start.
Meadows' slam in ninth lifts Tigers past Padres
The San Diego Padres were one strike away from padding their lead atop the NL wild-card standings.
The Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows changed that with one swing of the bat.
Down 3-0 with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning, Meadows hit a grand slam to stun the Padres and send the Tigers to a thrilling 4-3 win on Thursday.
Parker hit a 101 mph four-seam fastball off Robert Suarez that travelled 361 feet and landed just over the short left-field fence in San Diego.
San Diego (80-62) lost for the first time in four games and its lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks shrunk to just one-half game for the NL's top wild-card spot.
Jurickson Profar and Xander Bogaerts each homered for the Padres, who end the regular season with a three-game series at Arizona.
Meadows' homer was just his sixth of the season and lifted the Tigers (71-70) back over .500 and within five games of the Royals for the AL's final wild-card spot.
Braves lose, now tied for final NL wild card spot
The Atlanta Braves suffered a 3-1 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies to drop into a tie for the league's final wild-card berth with the idle New York Mets.
Atlanta and New York have identical 76-64 records with 22 games remaining.
The Braves, who got their lone run on Ramón Laureano's RBI single in the first inning, managed just five hits with Orlando Arcia's second inning-double the only one going for extra bases in the finale with the Rockies (52-89).
Colorado's Michael Toglia and Ezequiel Tovar each hit solo homers off Atlanta starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez, who gave up three other hits while striking out 11 without a walk in his six innings of work.
Rockies starter Austin Gomber went eight innings, yielding a run and five hits without issuing a walk while striking out six.
Phillies push winning streak to five
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 to extend their winning streak to five games and increase their lead atop the NL East to eight games.
Bryson Stott hit an RBI single in the first inning and a long solo homer during Philadelphia's four-run sixth inning.
Kody Clemens knocked in a pair of runs with a double in the sixth and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
Ranger Suarez gave up three hits over five scoreless innings for the Phillies (84-56), who have won 10 of 12.
The Marlins (52-88) scored their first run in the seventh on an RBI single by Jesús Sánchez and plated their final run an inning later on a throwing error by Clemens.
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