2017: an injured final season, a posting to the majors, and a decision Ohtani said he agonized over
Japanese reporting shows that the move was agreed a year in advance. Here is how his five Japanese seasons add up.
Key points
- Daily Sports reported in September 2017 that Ohtani would go to the majors through the posting system, and that Nippon-Ham had accepted this in his contract talks in December 2016.
- He also planned surgery to remove a bone in his right ankle that had bothered him since late 2016.
- He chose the Angels after meeting seven clubs. Nippon-Ham received a $20 million posting fee, Baseball Channel reported.
Shohei Ohtani's last season in Japan was the shortest. He pitched in only five games in 2017, going 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings, and hit .332 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs in 65 games, according to season lines compiled by Baseball Channel. On Sept. 14, Daily Sports reported that he had decided to go to the majors that winter through the posting system. The paper said he had raised the move in his contract talks in December 2016 and that the club had accepted it then. It also reported that he would have surgery to remove an extra bone, the os trigonum, in his right ankle, which had been painful since late 2016.
The posting moved quickly once it opened. Daily Sports reported that his agent, Nez Balelo, sent seven questions to all 30 major league clubs, and that Ohtani chose to meet seven: the Angels, Padres, Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Dodgers and Cubs, for about two hours each. He picked the Angels, and the agreement became public on Dec. 8 in the United States. Baseball Channel reported that the Angels would pay a signing bonus of $2.315 million, the money they had set aside for international players, and that Nippon-Ham would receive a $20 million posting fee.
At his introduction at Angel Stadium on Dec. 9, about 1,000 fans came, Daily Sports reported. The paper's headline quoted him saying he could not be a good person to everyone. He said he felt sorry for the clubs he turned down and thanked them for meeting him. "In the end I really agonized over it," he said.
Add up the five season lines and his time in Japan comes to 85 pitching appearances, a 42-15 record, 543 innings and 624 strikeouts, plus 403 games as a hitter with 296 hits, 48 home runs and 166 RBIs. Those are smaller totals than most stars leave behind. They were spread across two jobs.
Original Japanese headlines
日本ハム・大谷、メジャー挑戦決断 古傷・右足首手術へ！万全で夢舞台
Daily Sports, Sept. 14, 2017
大谷翔平「すべての人にとって『いい人』にはなれない」苦渋の選択に胸の内明かす
Daily Sports, Dec. 10, 2017
大谷、エンゼルス入りが決定！代理人「彼が次のレベルに到達するために最高の環境と感じた」
Baseball Channel, Dec. 2017
大谷翔平のMLB＆日米通算成績（打撃・投手）データ一覧＜2013-2021年シーズン 日本ハム－エンゼルス＞
Baseball Channel, Apr. 15, 2021
Players in this storyShohei Ohtani
Our read
The detail that stands out in the Japanese reporting is the timing. The move was agreed a full season early, which explains why Nippon-Ham's 2017 coverage reads more like a farewell than a crisis. The Fighters got what they had promised: five years, a title and a player ready for the majors.