Joey Votto shares his hilarious reaction to Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers contract

Shohei Ohtani did not even have to move to make $700 million. That is what the Japanese phenom is slated to make over the life of his new 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He first came across the Pacific Ocean to play for the Los Angeles Angels, but no playoff success contributed massively to him switching circuits in the City of Angels. So how did Joey Votto react play into this?

The 40-year-old Cincinnati Reds icon is apparently a noted chortler. I did not know what that word meant prior to looking it up on Google just now. My mind lives in the gutter, so do with that what you will. Votto is a free agent, but grew up in Toronto, the city of the American League franchise that just missed out on landing our version of Babe Ruth. I don't know how much $700 million is up in Canada.

All I know is the amount of Skyline Chili you can buy with $700 million over the course of 10 years is enough to be the Mayor of Cincinnati. The late, great Jerry Springer is rolling in his grave over this. But no matter how you feel about Ohtani, Votto or chortling in general, Ohtani got the bag, man, and probably did not have to take off his most favorite pair of sweats to do so. Life goals, to be honest...

The fact I didn't know Votto was such a chortler means he should go into Cooperstown yesterday.

This is the best thing I have seen Votto do since he danced in his Ron Weasley wig over on TikTok.

Joey Votto does more for Shohei Ohtani laughter than most humans

For those who root for the Angels, the San Francisco Giants and definitely the Toronto Blue Jays, the news of Ohtani signing with the Dodgers may have ruined your weekend. For those who sport the Dodger Blue, congratulations on landing the greatest player in the game today. Maybe Ohtani can help y'all win a World Series in something more than just a 60-game, COVID-shortened season?

As for the rest of us enjoying one of the last weekends before Christmas, Votto's reaction to Ohtani getting $700 million over the course of 10 years is the correct one. Ohtani's growing bank account is probably worth more than the gross domestic product of at least a dozen third-world nations. To be frank, he might be wealthy enough by 2035 to buy his own country and then rename it Ohtaniland.

Furthermore, let's just hope none of these checks bounce. That was a serious problem for the Dodgers one lousy owner ago. Frank McCourt had trouble forking over 700 million pennies a little more than a decade ago. I simply cannot wait see the Magic Johnson tweets that are sure to come out in the empty-calorie nonsense nature of a deal like this. It is not Monopoly money until it is...

To think what Ohtani is getting from the Dodgers is nearly 10 times as large as Jimbo Fisher's Texas A&M buyout of $76 million has me in stitches. For this to be fully-guaranteed is absolutely priceless.