Shohei Ohtani Offers Financial Support to Japan Earthquake Relief; Dodgers Donate $1M

The Los Angeles Dodgers and superstar free-agent signing Shohei Ohtani announced Thursday in a joint statement that they are making monetary contributions to relief efforts following the New Year's Day earthquake in Ohtani's home country of Japan.

In the statement, the Dodgers said they are donating $1 million as an organization, and while no dollar amount was revealed, Ohtani announced he is also donating to the cause:

On Jan. 1, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, causing a tsunami and significant damage to several nearby towns.

Per Kiyoshi Takenaka and Sakura Murakami of Reuters, the earthquake is known to have killed 94 people, while over 200 are still missing and 33,000 have been displaced from their homes.

Ohtani, who is from Ōshū, Iwate, Japan, spent the first six seasons of his MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels before signing a historic contract with the Dodgers this offseason.

The Dodgers and Ohtani agreed to a 10-year, $700 million pact, making him the highest-paid player in MLB history by a wide margin.

Ohtani went to great lengths to make it a team-friendly deal, though, by deferring $680 million of the $700 million until the end of his contract, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

That saved the Dodgers significant money against the luxury tax and allowed them to both sign superstar starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and acquire pitcher Tyler Glasnow in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays before signing him to a new deal.

The 29-year-old Ohtani is an icon in Japan and one of the most famous athletes in the entire world.

A two-way star who serves as both a designated hitter and starting pitcher, Ohtani won the American League MVP Award in two of the past three seasons and finished second in the voting in 2022.

Last season was arguably the best all-around year of Ohtani's career, as he hit .304 with 44 home runs, 95 RBI, 102 runs scored and 20 stolen bases, while also going 10-5 as a pitcher with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts over 132 innings.

An elbow injury will prevent Ohtani from pitching for the Dodgers in 2024, but he will be part of one of the most talented lineups in recent memory alongside Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.