Shohei Ohtani has chosen to travel away from home, but not far, so he decided to go to his next-door neighbor's house. The two-time MVPs run in Anaheim is officially over, as he has signed a Major League Baseball record-breaking deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers: 10 years, 700-million-dollars. 

Not only did this contract break the previous MLB record held by now former teammate Mike Trout, but it broke the record of the highest contract across the four major American sports, as well as being the largest guaranteed contract in sports history. Ohtani didn't just "break" the American sports record, but he shattered it by 250 million dollars. The record was previously held by current Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes with 450 million dollars over 10 years.

Even though the dual threat will only be one sided in 2024, he is still the most valuable player in baseball. His electric offensive stats heavily contributed to his 2023 MVP, winning by unanimous vote. Hitting for an AL leading 44 home runs, along with being only one of nine players in the entire league to have a batting average over .300. If the arm was available in the upcoming season, Ohtani would slot in as the Dodgers ace. For now, however, Walker Buehler remains at the top. 

The Dodgers pitching staffs earned run average ranked 13th on the year, with a 4.06. In the postseason, it spiked to 6.33 in the NLDS sweep to their division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks. With now the arguably best offense in the MLB, the Dodgers plan to focus on pitching for the remainder of the off-season.

The projected opening day starting lineup follows:

1B: Freddie Freeman

2B: Mookie Betts

3B: Max Muncy

C: Will Smith

DH: Shohei Ohtani

CF: Kike Hernandez

LF: David Peralta

RF: Jason Heyward

SS: Miguel Rojas

P: Walker Buehler

Yoshinobu Yamamoto remains the marquee pitching name of the off-season. Big market New York teams the Mets and Yankees remain top frontrunners for the Japanese right-hander. But even with the Dodgers signing Ohtani, they are still far from done making noise. Per John Heyman on MLB Tonight, "Don't count the Dodgers out on Yamamoto. They could do both. They could do Ohtani and Yamamoto."

Bringing back former World Baseball Classic champion teammates would be a perfect story for this Dodgers organization. For now, we have to wait and see where the remainder of the off-season takes us.