Baseball-Ohtani signs one-year, $30-million deal with Angels to avoid arbitration

(Reuters) – The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a one-year, $30-million contract with Japanese two-way standout Shohei Ohtani as part of an agreement that avoids arbitration, the Major League Baseball team said on Saturday.

The contract given to Ohtani, who was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 2021 after an awe-inspiring season in which he excelled as both a hitter and pitcher, is the largest given to an arbitration-eligible player.

Ohtani, who is likely to have one more start for the Angels in the 2022 regular season, had another solid campaign this year and is in a race with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for AL MVP honors and also in the conversation for the AL Cy Young Award given to the best pitcher.

The 28-year-old Ohtani, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Oakland on Thursday, has compiled a 15-8 record this year as a pitcher with a 2.35 ERA and 213 strikeouts.

As a hitter, Ohtani is fourth in the AL with 34 home runs and seventh with 94 RBI.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Clare Fallon)