Shohei Ohtani Favored to Land with Dodgers over Mets, Giants in Latest Betting Odds

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the early favorites to land the crown jewel of the 2024 MLB free-agent class.

L.A. is -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook to sign Shohei Ohtani, with the San Francisco Giants (+500) a somewhat distant second for the time being. They're followed by the Seattle Mariners (+700), New York Mets (+700) and New York Yankees (+750).

Credit: DraftKings Sportsbook

The Dodgers check all of the boxes for Ohtani. He'd get to stay on the West Coast and close to where he has called home throughout his MLB career. You'd expect Los Angeles to meet his asking price as well, especially with some money coming off the books for 2024.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Nov. 3 on Foul Territory the Dodgers are the "favorites" for the 2021 American League MVP, who could provide a much-needed shot in the arm.

This story is still in its early stages, yet it feels somewhat inevitable that Ohtani will head north on I-5 when he makes his final decision.

The Giants and Mariners might at least provide some intrigue because they typically don't land superstars of this caliber in free agency.

Just last offseason, San Francisco pursued both Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa and watched them sign elsewhere, which has been a common theme. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi believes that narrative can change.

"I'm not concerned about our reputation with free agents," he said in September. "I don't mean that to sound arrogant or like we're out of touch. As we said earlier when talking about the manager search, this is a great ballpark, this is a great city to play in, this is a great organization, and I know a lot of players would be excited to put this uniform on."

There's a similar sense of fan consternation in Seattle, where the extent of ownership's investment is a sore spot. Preaching patience and a long-term process doesn't work when an organization has one playoff appearance in two decades.

Even if the Mariners don't get Ohtani, the fanbase may respond positively if they get the sense the front office made a genuine effort and was prepared to put a record-setting contract on the table.