The future of Shohei Ohtani

[packs]

The Dodgers acquire a huge international market with Ohtani on the team. He will be worth the money in terms of the revenue he'll generate. Not sure what 70 million a year looks like on the field, but he's a good investment.

[jingram058]

He could buy 140 houses a year like mine with that kind of money.

That kind of money puts him out of touch with mere mortals. But that's okay. It's simply how it is today.

So we can rationalize and justify the Dodgers doing this, but if the Yankees do it, they're the pariah of all of sports?

Gimme a break with the nonsense, please.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by jingram058

He could buy 140 houses a year like mine with that kind of money.

That kind of money puts him out of touch with mere mortals. But that's okay. It's simply how it is today.

So we can rationalize and justify the Dodgers doing this, but if the Yankees do it, they're the pariah of all of sports?

Gimme a break with the nonsense, please.

I have enough saved TV and radio broadcasts, basically everything, to last the rest of my life...from those golden days of yore when the players wore baseball uniforms, lived in the same neighborhoods as their fans, worked jobs in the off season, and there were no "designated hitters" or 4 finger intentional walks or a man on 2nd to start the 10th inning or any of that garbage. And most specifically, no 9-figure player salaries. You can have this crap. Enjoy.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by packs

The Dodgers acquire a huge international market with Ohtani on the team. He will be worth the money in terms of the revenue he'll generate. Not sure what 70 million a year looks like on the field, but he's a good investment.

Absolutely not. This will be looked at as the start of the downfall of the sport.


Casinos in the stadium, give me a break

[G1911]

This will probably end up as one of the worst contracts for a team ever signed if measured by on the field performance. It may well generate a profit in the end from all the race/nationalist fans who will buy the merch and follow the team. I would think that they very carefully did the math to ensure they won’t be losing that much in projected gains.

[MJRaider]

Originally Posted by G1911

This will probably end up as one of the worst contracts for a team ever signed if measured by on the field performance. It may well generate a profit in the end from all the race/nationalist fans who will buy the merch and follow the team. I would think that they very carefully did the math to ensure they won’t be losing that much in projected gains.

Make no mistake, the Dodgers will make 5-7 TIMES more than what this contract will pay out. And those projections are low per the current social media speculation out there.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by G1911

This will probably end up as one of the worst contracts for a team ever signed if measured by on the field performance. It may well generate a profit in the end from all the race/nationalist fans who will buy the merch and follow the team. I would think that they very carefully did the math to ensure they won’t be losing that much in projected gains.

It would be interesting to know to what extent the profit projection depends on him staying healthy for how long.

[mrreality68]

Huge contract and scary but I think he will age well with it.
1. He is an internationally famous and now on a Big Market Team that always makes playoff. So the market revenue, etc will be thru the roof
2. He plays DH so he does not have the same wear and tear on body that players that play the field so he will less likely to hurt to the same extent as others.
3. As a pitcher(not in 2024) he pitches every 6 days so again less mileage on his body
4. He diet and exercise regimen is amazing so if anyone is going to play well on until the end of the contract it is him.
5. The fact that a lot of money is deferred helps keep LA with financial flexibly to get other players( and Right now they really need pitching)

[mrreality68]

Huge contract and scary but I think he will age well with it.
1. He is an internationally famous and now on a Big Market Team that always makes playoff. So the market revenue, etc will be thru the roof
2. He plays DH so he does not have the same wear and tear on body that players that play the field so he will less likely to hurt to the same extent as others.
3. As a pitcher(not in 2024) he pitches every 6 days so again less mileage on his body
4. He diet and exercise regimen is amazing so if anyone is going to play well on until the end of the contract it is him.
5. The fact that a lot of money is deferred helps keep LA with financial flexibly to get other players( and Right now they really need pitching)

[bk400]

Some humble thoughts / questions:

1. The Dodgers are going to have a menacing top of the order. Do you bat Ohtani second or third?

2. I think that whether Ohtani becomes a villain in the sport depends on how he handles himself, both on the field and off. If he starts to suck at the plate, that would obviously make everyone look bad. But if he performs like he has over the past three years at the plate and the Dodgers win the pennant (or more) next year, I think the headline $700 million figure will fade into the background. I reference again the poll done by The Athletic which found that 45% of major league players would choose to build a team around him. That kind of says a lot.

Off the field, if he douches out, that would be bad. But as others have pointed out, he seems to be widely adored, and that is usually not the case for closet douchebags. I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing Ohtani-funded youth baseball programs not only in Japan (which he's done), but also in the LA area. Those sorts of actions will probably help him as well.

3. Someone implied that Ohtani's value is propped up by racial and nationalistic factors. I suppose there is some truth to that given how much Ohtani means to Japan (a huge economy with a relatively affluent fan base) and the Asian American baseball fan base in the US. But I'll go out on a limb and say that the hype around Ohtani would be same if not more if he were a white or black American.

4. I think people hate the Yankees because they've won 27 titles and the visceral disdain that Mets and Red Sox fans feel toward them are magnified in the media and the cultural lexicon. I suspect that a lot of people also find it annoying that the Yankees are the preferred team for non-baseball people trying to appropriate baseball culture. You know, like those fashionista types who are photographed wearing the pink, sparkly NY caps -- and the politicians....

[Seven]

Complete side note, My only gripe with these contracts nowadays is that I think too much money has permeated the sport, but then again the same thing could be said about life itself.

Teams should not be worth billions of dollars, athletes shouldn't be paid millions, a afternoon at the ballpark should still be an affordable option for a family of four. Gambling should not be as pervasive as it is. These are more my issues with society today though, rather than the contract itself.

The Dodgers lineup will be dangerous. They better hope, for their sake, that he's able to pitch again. Otherwise, he's not worth the money that he was given.

[MJRaider]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Absolutely not. This will be looked at as the start of the downfall of the sport.


Casinos in the stadium, give me a break

LOL, after all previous moments in modern baseball history, the moment where a historically unique, widely adored, and internationally celebrated unicorn of a basball player is paid what he is easily worth is the downfall? Just stop.