Dodgers screw over fans again by limiting this awesome Shohei Ohtani giveaway

The Los Angeles Dodgers essentially met every single one of Shohei Ohtani's demands in free agency for two main reasons. First, he's a ridiculously talented player. He isn't pitching this season, yet is still the clear favorite to win the NL MVP award. Just imagine how next season will go when he's finally on the mound!

The second reason has to do with how marketable he is. There is no bigger draw in MLB right now than Ohtani, and for good reason. Fans are drawn to his two-way ability, but the fact that he's an international phenom hailing from Japan doesn't hurt either.

Any $700 million deal has inherent risk, but the Dodgers were comfortable going the extra mile to sign Ohtani because they knew that at the very least, even if his production wouldn't be worth the hefty price tag, he'd make them the money back and then some thanks to his popularity. His pull is evident with the Dodgers latest giveaway, which the organization is once again screwing its fans with.

Dodgers screw fanbase over by limiting awesome Shohei Ohtani giveaway

Having Ohtani on their team means that the Dodgers can take advantage of his popularity by creating several giveaways centered around the superstar. It's a no-brainer for them to do this. The problem is that they have failed their fans several times in situations revolving around Ohtani.

The Dodgers had an Ohtani bobblehead earlier this season, but only gave it away to the first 40,000 fans. They're doing the same thing with another Ohtani bobblehead on Wednesday, and this one is with his dog, Decoy.

As Alden Gonzalez notes in his piece for the Los Angeles Times, the demand for anything Ohtani is outrageous.

"As of Monday afternoon, the Dodgers were selling tickets to Wednesday’s game for a minimum of $131 and to Thursday’s game — against the same opponent, the Baltimore Orioles — for a minimum of $36."

Fans are paying an absurd amount of money to go to the Dodgers game on Wednesday for the sole purpose of getting an Ohtani/Decoy bobblehead. It turns out that over 10,000 fans will wind up disappointed. How is that acceptable?

The question of why bobblehead giveaways are limited is rather easy to answer. First, it's expensive to buy enough bobbleheads to ensure that every fan in attendance gets one. Second, by limiting the amount of supply, fans will pile in early, as we saw the last time an Ohtani bobblehead was given away. Them coming to the ballpark well before first pitch increases the opportunity that they'll spend more money in concessions, favoring the team immensely.

It's not hard to rationalize why teams like the Dodgers limit their giveaways, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Some fans who might even come and line up well before first pitch will miss out on the bobblehead, which might even be the sole reason they attend the game and pay the exorbitant ticket prices, to begin with.

To make matters worse, this isn't even the first time that the Dodgers have mishandled something Ohtani-related this season. Forget the other limited bobblehead giveaway for a second. The Dodgers reportedly made the person who caught Ohtani's first home run with the team feel threatened as she was reluctant to immediately give the ball back to the organization.

Having Ohtani aboard is something that the organization and its fan base clearly are excited by, as they should be, but the Dodgers need to do better. Don't make fans feel threatened after catching one of his milestone home run balls. Don't limit giveaways when you're charging over $100 for a ticket to a game in which fans are willing to pay for the sole purpose of getting the bobblehead. Yes, it's a business, but treating customers well is important too.