LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani opened his first news conference with the Los Angeles Dodgers by dodging questions about whether he had a second Tommy John surgery.
“At the time of the announcement, we didn’t know which way we were going to go. That’s why I never said what type of procedure was going to be done,” Ohtani said Thursday at a news conference to discuss his record $700 million, 10-year contract.
It was Ohtani’s first time speaking with the media since Aug. 9, two weeks before a pitching injury that required surgery with Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Sept. 19 and will keep him off the mound until 2025. Ohtani previously underwent Tommy John surgery with ElAttrache on Oct. 1, 2018.
“I’m not obviously an expert in the medical field, but it was a procedure,” Ohtani said. “I’m not sure what it’s called, I know it was completely different from my first time, so I don’t know what you what to call it. You could probably talk to my doctor about that.”
Ohtani refused to say what other teams he negotiated with before the agreement last weekend.
“Free agency is still going on and I don’t really want to mess with their plans and I don’t want to say anything wrong, so I don’t want to really talk about what I had talks with with other organizations,” he said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
He added that he “can’t wait to join the team and get it going.”
Ohtani did reveal the name of his dog, seen on his lap when he appeared on the MLB Network for the announcement of his second MVP award on Nov. 16. The dog has an American name, “Decoy,” and a Japanese name, “Dekopin” or “Decopin,” depending on the transliteration.
Ohtani wore a navy business suit with a white shirt and blue tie, took off the jacket and put on a Dodgers home jersey with No. 17 and then the blue cap with the interlocking L and A. He took off the cap before speaking.
“One thing that really stands out in my head,” he said, “when I had the meeting with the Dodgers, the ownership group, they said when they looked back at the last 10 years, even though they made the playoffs every single year, won one World Series ring, they considered that a failure. And when I heard that, I knew they were all about winning, and that’s exactly how I feel.”
Ohtani never reached the playoffs in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
An electronic sign flashed “Welcome to the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani” in English and Japanese above the stage. Ohtani thanked controlling owner Mark Walter, team president Stan Kasten, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers had attempted to sign Ohtani out of high school before he joined the Nippon Ham Fighters.
“Shohei is arguably the most talented player who has ever played this game,” Friedman said, flanked by Ohtani and Walter. “One of our goals is to have baseball fans in Japan convert to Dodger blue.”
A unique two-way star as both a hitter and pitcher, the 29-year-old Japanese sensation left the Angels as a free agent after six years. He’s moving 30 miles up Interstate 5 after the Dodgers won out over the competition in a deal announced Monday. He said he made his decision Friday night, on the eve of his announcement.
Ohtani also thanked the Angels during a news conference that started shortly after 3 p.m. (8 a.m. Friday in Japan).
“It was a fun ride, a great ride for the last six years. … I’ll never forget all the memories I have,” he said. “There’s always sadness leaving teams. Last time it was the Fighters and in this case it was the Angels.”
The two-time AL MVP has a .274 batting average with 171 homers, 437 RBIs and 86 stolen bases along with a 39-19 record with a 3.01 ERA and 608 strikeouts in 481⅔ innings. Ohtani has 34.7 wins above replacement (WAR), per Baseball Reference.
Ohtani’s unusual contract calls for annual salaries of $70 million, and of each year’s salary, $68 million is deferred with no interest, payable in equal installments each July 1 from 2034 to ’43. Kasten said Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, proposed the deferred money last Friday, when there were false reports of a possible deal with Toronto.
“Once Shohei had finished meeting with everyone, they said: Here’s what it would take. What do you think?” Kasten said.
Deferred money lowered the annual charge to the Dodgers’ luxury tax payroll to about $46 million, reducing their competitive balance tax.
“I figured if I can defer as much money as I can, if that’s going to help the CBT and that’s going help the Dodgers be able to sign better players and make a better team, I felt like that was worth it,” Ohtani said.
He can opt out of the deal if either Walter or Friedman no longer is with the team, a person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced.
“Everybody has to be on the same page in order to have a winning organization,” Ohtani said. “I feel like those two are at the top of it and they’re in control of everything. And I feel almost like I’m having a contract with those two guys. And I feel like if one of them are gone … things might get a little out of control so I just wanted a safety net.”
Said Friedman: “Obviously, it’s really flattering but also it’s a nonfactor for me.”
In a letter to the USC fan base Friday, athletic director Jen Cohen addressed the school’s stance on the pending Big Ten private capital deal that could infuse the conference with up to $2.4 billion.
“As we continue to evaluate the merits of this proposal or any others, our University leadership remains aligned in our stance that our fiduciary obligation to the University of Southern California demands we thoroughly evaluate any deals that could impact our long-term value and flexibility, no matter the short-term benefit,” Cohen said in the letter.
The proposed deal would extend the league’s grant of rights an extra 10 years to 2046 and create a new business entity, Big Ten Enterprises, that would house all leaguewide media rights and sponsorship deals. Each school, as well as the league office, would get shares of ownership of Big Ten Enterprises, while an investment fund that is tied to the University of California pension system would receive a 10% stake in the new entity in exchange for an infusion of over $2 billion to conference athletic departments.
USC and Michigan are the two Big Ten schools that have pushed back on the deal, which has otherwise been supported by a majority of the programs in the conference, as well as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.
In a call last month between USC and Michigan trustees, sources told ESPN’s Dan Wetzel that both programs were skeptical of the deal and talked about how it does not address the root issue — soaring costs — that has made cash so imperative for athletic departments. Just providing short-term money, sources said, does not solve that issue.
The schools also noted pending federal legislation that makes predicting the future of college athletics difficult, as well as a general apprehension about selling equity in a university asset — the conference media rights.
Beyond the potential impact to long-term value and flexibility in exchange for a “short-term benefit” that Cohen suggested (an extension to the grant of rights to 2046 could limit conference expansion and the departure of any programs, for example), she also noted in her letter that the $2.4 billion would be “unevenly distributed” among the schools and “create a tiered revenue distribution system moving forward.”
According to reporting from Wetzel and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the exact equity amounts per school in Big Ten Enterprises are still being negotiated. There is expected to be a small gap in the percentage of the remaining equity among the schools that would favor the league’s biggest athletic brands, but it’s likely to be less than a percentage point. A tier system for initial payments is also expected, but with the lowest amount in the nine-figure range. Larger athletic departments could receive an amount above $150 million.
“We greatly value our membership in the Big Ten Conference and understand and respect the larger landscape,” Cohen said. “But we also recognize the power of the USC brand is far-reaching, deeply engaging, and incredibly valuable, and we will always fight first for what’s best for USC.”
The Big Ten is in the middle of a seven-year, $7 billion media rights package that runs through 2030. The money infusion is believed to be acutely needed at several Big Ten schools that are struggling to pay down debt on new construction and budgeting for direct revenue ($20.5 million this year and expected to rise annually) to athletes.
In a move that altered the college football landscape, USC left the Pac-12 and joined the Big Ten conference in 2024, alongside UCLA, Oregon and Washington, pushing the league to 18 members.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Celebrated former football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U” that showcased the connections he made with players others wouldn’t gamble on, has died after being shot on the college campus where he worked, the Oakland Police Department said Friday.
The suspect, who police say knew and targeted Beam, 66, has been arrested.
Beam’s death a day after he was shot at Laney College rattled the community with scores holding a vigil outside the hospital before he died and remembering him as someone who always tried to help anyone.
Oakland Assistant Chief James Beere said the suspect went on campus for a “specific reason” but did not elaborate on what that was. “This was a very targeted incident,” he said.
Beere did not say how Beam and the suspect knew each other but said the suspect was known to loiter around the Laney campus. The suspect had played football at a high school where Beam had worked but not at the time the coach was employed there.
The suspect was taken into custody without any altercation and a gun has been recovered, the assistant chief added. Charges were still pending.
Authorities credited technology, specifically cameras at the college campus, private residences and on public transit, in tracking the suspect identified as Cedric Irving Jr.
Irving was arrested without incident at a commuter rail station in Oakland just after 3 a.m. on Friday and police recovered the gun. He was being held at a local jail on charges of murder and carrying a concealed weapon, according to Alameda County’s inmate locator. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Irving’s brother, Samuael Irving, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was stunned to learn of the arrest and that his brother excelled academically and athletically in high school, where he ran track and played football. The brother said Cedric grew distant from the family in recent years after an argument with their father. Irving recently lost his job as a security guard after an altercation, his brother said, and then was evicted from his apartment.
“I hope it isn’t him,” Samuael Irving said quietly. “The Cedric I knew wasn’t capable of murder – but the way things had been going, I honestly don’t know.”
Police said the shooting happened Thursday before noon, and officers arrived to find Beam shot. Few other details were available. It was the second shooting in two days at a school in Oakland.
The Netflix docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges striving to turn their lives around, and Beam’s Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season. Beam gambled on players nobody else wanted. He developed deep relationships with his players while fielding a team that regularly competed for championships.
Beam’s family said in a statement that he was a “loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend.”
“Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love,” the family said, requesting privacy.
Piedmont Police Chief Fred Shavies, who previously served as a deputy chief in the Oakland Police Department, said he was a friend, mentee and longtime admirer of Beam.
“John was so much more than a coach,” he said. “He was a father figure to thousands of not only men but young women in our community.”
Shavies said that he met Beam when he was in the eighth grade and that he supported him after Shavies lost his father in high school, calling him “an absolutely incredible human being.” He asked how Beam left his mark on so many people “with just 24 hours in a day, right?”
“You mean the world to me,” Rejzohn Wright said in a post with a photo of Beam.
His brother shared a photo of the coach alongside a broken heart emoji.
Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” in the city who mentored thousands of young people, including her own nephew, and “gave Oakland’s youth their best chance” at success.
“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said.
Beam, who was serving as athletic director, joined Laney College in 2004 as a running backs coach and became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. He retired from coaching in 2024 but stayed on at the school to shape its athletic programs. According to his biography on the college’s website, at least 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.
Beam’s shooting came a day after a student was shot at Oakland’s Skyline High School. The student is in stable condition. Beam had previously worked at Skyline High School, and the suspect had played football there after Beam had already left for another job.
Lee said the back-to-back shootings on Oakland campuses demonstrate “the gun violence crisis playing out in real time.” She gave no indication that they were connected.
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick said Friday he will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies after his name surfaced in connection with the vacant New York Giants job.
After the Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday, Belichick became the subject of speculation around the opening. In a statement posted on Instagram, Belichick said, “Despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.”
Before coming to college coaching, Belichick spent his entire career in the NFL — winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
But he won two Super Bowls with the Giants as a defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells in the 1986 and 1990 seasons.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families. The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach Parcells’ staff for over a decade.”
Belichick is in his first season with North Carolina, which has won two straight games to bring its record to 4-5. He was asked during his news conference Tuesday about the speculation concerning the Giants and he reiterated he was focused on Saturday’s game against Wake Forest.
The statement Friday also reiterated his commitment to North Carolina, saying that has not wavered.
“We have tremendous support from the university, our alumni, and the entire Carolina community. My focus remains solely on continuing to improve this team, develop our players, and build a program that makes Tar Heel fans proud,” Belichick said.
