Many people have long been confused about Shohei Ohtani’s decision to move to Major League Baseball. While the Japanese star is clearly talented enough to make it in the U.S., the timing of his move is costing him millions of dollars. Still only 23, Ohtani is subject to MLB’s new international spending restrictions; were he to wait two years, he would essentially be an unrestricted free agent.
Ohtani doesn’t seem too concerned with the money, though. In fact, Ohtani and his agent sent out a memo to MLB teams requesting a detailed report of how he would be assimilated into their franchise.