His agent, Nez Balelo, issued a midafternoon news release Saturday announcing the 10-year contract, ending months of speculation that began even before Ohtani became a free agent on Nov.

That was the message that Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, delivered to the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, right around noon Pacific time on Dec. 9. Three little ...