Possibly the worst-kept secret across the baseball stratosphere is that the Dodgers are planning to be aggressive in their pursuit of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this winter. The team has wanted Ohtani in Dodger Blue for quite some time now, and this is their chance to land his services.

He will be a free agent this winter, and the team seems to have as good of odds as any to land the superstar player. The Dodgers can offer him a winning environment, and pay him the financial compensation that he will covet on the open market.

After another poor showing in the postseason, the Dodgers know that they can’t continue to run the organization the way they have been. Something needs to change, and that change could be them doing whatever it takes to land Ohtani.

MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today has reported that the Dodgers number one priority in free agency remains Ohtani, especially given their performance in the postseason.

“The Dodgers, whose No. 1 target this winter remains Shohei Ohtani, say that simply winning the NL West is no longer acceptable. They have won 211 regular-season games in two years but only one in October, after being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks this year.”

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today

President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman knows that the team needs to do better, and he has spoken about them doing more to fix their playoff issues going forward.

“For a team this talented to play 27 innings where we do not hold a lead,” Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said, “it’s something we have to figure out.”

Per Andrew Friedman via USA Today

Ohtani won’t be able to take the mound this coming year due to a torn UCL but his bat is still very valuable in itself, and the Dodgers will be paying for more than just the one season of Ohtani. He would be a great start to the offseason, and it could help reenergize the fanbase after a tough ending to the season.

LA can’t afford to have another lackluster offseason, otherwise, the fans may lose interest. This is the winter that the team has been waiting for, and it is time to correct the problems from years past.