Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani will be facing enormous (and maybe unreachable) expectations

For the first six years of his career, Shohei Ohtani has been one of the most popular players in baseball due to his historic accomplishments and production as a two-way player. 

He has also been somewhat of a sympathetic figure because his dominance -- especially over the past three years -- has completely gone to waste. It is hard to watch a generational talent playing for a second-tier franchise in Anaheim that never surrounded him with enough talent to win. 

Those days are now over in the wake of his unprecedented 10-year, $700 million contract signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. 

By joining the Dodgers, already one of the best teams in baseball, he is going to be facing enormous expectations. He won't just be expected to blast home runs at the plate and pitch strikeouts on the mound, either. 

Fans are expecting championships. Multiple championships.

That pressure is going to carry over for the rest of the Dodgers. They are simply out of excuses when it comes to their quest for another World Series. 

The Dodgers have been one of the best teams in baseball for a decade. This is not only due to a great farm system that has produced a never-ending pipeline of talent, but also to ownership that is willing to outspend everybody for top-tier players.

The roster already includes the likes of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. With Ohtani now in the mix, the team will have three of the most impactful hitters in baseball, all of whom were acquired in either free agency or trades.

Despite all of those stars, big contracts and regular season wins, the team has more often than not fallen short in the playoffs. The team's only World Series over the past decade comes with (in the eyes of some) an asterisk given that it took place during the COVID-shortened season. The Dodgers simply seem like a team that has been capable of more and keeps falling short when the games matter the most. 

Even though Ohtani will not be able to pitch in 2024, he will still provide another incredible power bat to the lineup. The Dodgers should have one of the best offenses in baseball. 

When you assemble a roster like this and pay one player $700 million while doing so, people are not going to tolerate anything less than excellence. World Series wins -- multiple World Series wins -- will be the expectation for both the player and the team. It might be unfair. The goal might be unreachable. Championships always come down to more than one player, of course. None of that, however, changes the fact that these are the expectations the Dodgers have saddled themselves with.

Great players have to win championships to complete their resume. Teams that spend like this have to win championships to justify the dollars. 

Ohtani can no longer point to the lack of talent around him. The Dodgers have no more excuses.