Now that the anticipation of where Shohei Ohtani will play baseball is over, it's time for reactions around the league. The Atlanta Braves were a long-shot dark horse to sign Ohtani who ultimately signed a 10 year contract worth $700 million to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Intially, everyone's reaction was to rave about how unstoppable the Dodgers will be in 2024. The reality is that Braves fans should not fret because Atlanta is still the team to beat in the National League. Here are three reasons why the Braves are in better shape than the Dodgers even after the Ohtani deal.
Still room to improve the roster
Obviously the off-season has a long way to go, but one would have to imagine after giving one player $700 million the Dodgers pretty much have their Opening Day roster right now. Even a big market team in Los Angeles does not have the financial means to expand much deeper after a deal like that.
Ohtani's historic deal is equal to six Atlanta Braves players. Four of these players are all-stars, one was the National League Rookie of the Year and one is the reigning National League Most Valuable Player.
Atlanta is a smaller market franchise than L.A. and can be difficult to compare to the Dodgers financially. However, when you break this down and seeing where both teams are, it seems like the Braves are in a position to continue and improve while the Dodgers may be stuck right where they are.