Dodgers already have a target on their back with Shohei Ohtani playoff pitching drama

The Dodgers have some roster issues to puzzle out before the postseason, one of which is how they're going to use Shohei Ohtani. The easiest thing to do, and what they're currently planning on doing, is to have him do what he always does as a DH-starter. In order to traverse a rulebook loophole, though, they've also reportedly been exploring options to use him in relief, if they can find a way to also keep him in the game as a hitter.

That seems like a more distant possibility now, as it would require Ohtani to start the game as a DH, come in for relief, and then shift to the outfield, where he has little major league experience (and none since 2021).

However, some rival teams are reportedly already miffed at the idea that the Dodgers will get an extra pitcher, period.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote, "Teams are upset that the Dodgers will have one more pitcher than everyone else on their roster since there's a special exemption for Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player."

Of course, this has never been an issue before because Ohtani never made and was never going to make the postseason with the Angels, and wasn't pitching last season. But what did these other teams think was going to happen when he inevitably got there as a fully-fledged two-way player?

Rival teams reportedly upset Dodgers will be able to carry an extra pitcher into the postseason with Shohei Ohtani

Andrew Friedman, when publicly quibbling with the wording of the two-way player rule, suggested that going back to the drawing board over technicalities might be something that the Dodgers explore in the offseason, but it looks like they might not be the only ones who are knocking on Rob Manfred's door looking to make changes once the World Series is over.

There's some validity to the opposing teams' complaints, but again — how else did they figure this was going to pan out?

The Dodgers are already everyone else's least-favorites to win the World Series and this gives opposing fans another reason to root against them, but LA technically has 15 pitchers when they're supposed to only have 14 right now, and it's not doing that much for them. The Commissioner's Office is highly unlikely to make any changes one way or the other this season, so whoever's complaining is just going to have to live with this until the offseason.