The future of Shohei Ohtani

Seven · #1 12-11-2023, 11:44 AM

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.

packs · #2 12-11-2023, 12:17 PM

Guys I don't think you can look at the contract as Ohtani has to be good enough on the field to be worth 70 million dollars. I don't think anyone can be good enough on the field to earn 70 million through performance only. He'd have to hit 50 homers, win 20 games and be a top 2 MVP finalist every season for the next 10 years for his performance to be worth the money.

This is a business decision. Ohtani is the most popular baseball player in America and Japan. He dominates the entire world-wide market for the sport. I would guess he will generate in excess of 70 million for the Dodgers next year and pay for himself.

JustinD · #3 12-11-2023, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packs

This is a business decision. Ohtani is the most popular baseball player in America and Japan. He dominates the entire world-wide market for the sport. I would guess he will generate in excess of 70 million for the Dodgers next year and pay for himself.

This is exactly the point, he is essentially free. It had to be a California team for proximity to Japanese fans and the new product and distribution sales will more than make up for it. The only issue here is structuring salary and keeping luxury taxes under control. That's why my main interest in this is the dynamics of pay structure in the contact out of curiosity.

cgjackson222 · #4 12-11-2023, 01:27 PM

Some historical perspective from Joe Posnanski's blog:

"On March 8, 1930, Babe Ruth signed a two-year, $160,000 contract with the New York Yankees. This is probably the first famous sports contract in American history, but what is not as well remembered is that Ruth actually settled for that contract. He had stubbornly held out for months and had already turned down this exact contract. He wanted a three-year deal at $85,000 a year.

But as spring training began, Ruth began to waver. Sportswriters were in his ear telling him that owner Jacob Ruppert � famously known as �the Colonel� � would never give in to his demands and that $80,000 was a whole lot of money.

And on March 8, Ruth showed up at the Yankees� spring training facility in St. Petersburg, Fla. � in cream-colored golf knickers, gray stockings, black-and-white-striped shoes and a dark jacket, according to the New York Daily News � and humbly tapped Ruppert on the shoulder and said: �My dear Colonel, could I see you for about 10 minutes?�

Five minutes later, they emerged from the meeting and Ruppert grandiosely pronounced: �Gentlemen, all I have to say is that Mr. Ruth has agreed to that two-year contract.�

At which point, Ruth reportedly said: �Hell�s bells? What time is it? Quarter after one? Hey, I gotta beat it to the ballpark!�

It was the biggest sports contract ever signed to that point � about $1.35 million in today�s dollars about $10,000 more per year than Ruth had been making. The big-city and small-town newspapers across the country � to offer some perspective about how much money that was � pointed out that Ruth would be drawing $5,000 more per year than President Herbert Hoover himself.

As the years went on, the contrast between Ruth�s salary and Hoover�s led to one of baseball�s all-time stories, one you�ve probably heard. Supposedly, Ruth was confronted with the fact that he would be getting paid more than President Hoover. He huffed and responded, �Hell, why not? I had a better year than he did.�

Not to be a party pooper, but that probably never happened. For one thing,

I cannot find an instance of Ruth saying it; the story didn�t emerge until the late 1940s, when Ruth was dying. In fact, the story only emerged because New York sportswriter Tom Meany kept telling it in his banquet speeches. In Meany�s version of the story, it was actually Ruppert himself who had told Ruth that he couldn�t pay him that much money because it was more than the President of the United States, to which Ruth replied, in some form, �So what? I had a better year.� But we can be almost entirely certain that didn�t happen; Ruth was not that sort of conversationalist and, as we know, Ruppert readily offered him $80,000 per year and Ruth turned it down.

My guess is that Meany came up with the funny line himself during some bull session with other sportswriters and then attributed it to Ruth because it sounded better that way.

Anyway, to the point: In 1930, Babe Ruth made $5,000 more per year than the President of the United States.

In 2024, Shohei Ohtani will make � I kid you not � 175 times more than the President of the United States.

Beercan collector · #5 12-11-2023, 02:18 PM

If he never pitches again ,
at $700 million for 10 years ,
he will be making more than $100,000 per at bat
( unless he has more than 700 at bats a year)

D. Bergin · #6 12-11-2023, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seven

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.

When it comes down to it...the Dodgers, and every other MLB team is a business. If he sells a Billion $'s in merchandise for them in the next 10 years, they really don't care whether he pitches again or not.

Personally, I have a hard time believing he's even going to be an extremely effective hitter his 1st year back from Tommy John surgery.

He's a left-handed batter, which means he uses his right arm for his extension and follow through. He's going to have to be very careful he doesn't hyperextend it while he's still healing from the surgery. I know it's a different motion from throwing, but he's still got to be careful.

jayshum · #7 12-11-2023, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

When it comes down to it...the Dodgers, and every other MLB team is a business. If he sells a Billion $'s in merchandise for them in the next 10 years, they really don't care whether he pitches again or not.

Personally, I have a hard time believing he's even going to be an extremely effective hitter his 1st year back from Tommy John surgery.

He's a left-handed batter, which means he uses his right arm for his extension and follow through. He's going to have to be very careful he doesn't hyperextend it while he's still healing from the surgery. I know it's a different motion from throwing, but he's still got to be careful.

Bryce Harper came back from Tommy John surgery in about 5 1/2 months. He hit for a decent average early on but didn't have much power for his first few months back. By the end of the season, he seemed to be back to his normal self hitting. It will be interesting to see if Ohtani has a similar recovery and if his power will also take more time to return than his hitting does.

jayshum · #8 12-11-2023, 05:37 PM

$680 out of $700 million deferred. That's hard to believe.

mrreality68 · #9 12-11-2023, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayshum

$680 out of $700 million deferred. That's hard to believe.

That is insane amount of deferred money but he will make a ton in marketing each year.

clydepepper · #10 12-11-2023, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrreality68

That is insane amount of deferred money but he will make a ton in marketing each year.

Even Bonilla will be retired before this guy stops getting paid.

.

Peter_Spaeth · #11 12-11-2023, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayshum

$680 out of $700 million deferred. That's hard to believe.

So what's the present value of the contract?

cgjackson222 · #12 12-12-2023, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

So what's the present value of the contract?

Not sure if this is correct:

Beercan collector · #13 12-12-2023, 08:18 AM

What�s the payment after 10 years ?
2 million a year for 340 years ? 😊

Gorditadogg · #14 12-11-2023, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Yep. Capitalism sucks.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Casey2296 · #15 12-11-2023, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

Yep. Capitalism sucks.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Capitalism is the only thing that allows me to buy baseball cards.

Seven · #16 12-12-2023, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

Yep. Capitalism sucks.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

I wouldn't say Capitalism sucks, not to get political, but any sort of system/organization without any kind of regulation leaves itself open to corruption and rampant abuse. You wouldn't mind the players salaries, team values, and price of tickets/ballpark concessions, if the average persons money rose with the times. But that's not a discussion for here.

I wouldn't be surprised if deferment is addressed in the next CBA. I can't imagine this makes many people happy.

Gorditadogg · #17 12-12-2023, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seven

I wouldn't say Capitalism sucks, not to get political, but any sort of system/organization without any kind of regulation leaves itself open to corruption and rampant abuse. You wouldn't mind the players salaries, team values, and price of tickets/ballpark concessions, if the average persons money rose with the times. But that's not a discussion for here.

I wouldn't be surprised if deferment is addressed in the next CBA. I can't imagine this makes many people happy.

Oh my! Dodgers are DEFERRING COMPENSATION!! Can you believe it!! What rampant corruption and abuse!! I don't like this at all!

packs · #18 12-12-2023, 11:13 AM

I don't understand the issue. Don't we all try to make as much money as possible in our jobs? Why does it become different if the job is a professional athlete? Why shouldn't Ohtani make as much money as he can? Who wouldn't in their own employment?

There is only one person in the world who can play the game like Ohtani can, and that's Ohtani himself. Why wouldn't he be subject to a different standard when it came to his pay?

Seven · #19 12-12-2023, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packs

I don't understand the issue. Don't we all try to make as much money as possible in our jobs? Why does it become different if the job is a professional athlete? Why shouldn't Ohtani make as much money as he can? Who wouldn't in their own employment?

There is only one person in the world who can play the game like Ohtani can, and that's Ohtani himself. Why wouldn't he be subject to a different standard when it came to his pay?

My issue with sports on the whole, and this is just a personal opinion, is that there's too much money involved in all of them nowadays. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that players are paid millions of dollars to play baseball, or really any sport for that matter. Yes the market dictates what they're worth/paid, and it's just something I have to live with.

packs · #20 12-12-2023, 11:58 AM

But what makes it ridiculous? Salaries provide a window into the health of the league. Clearly MLB is doing very well considering how often these contracts are offered. I'm really not sure how it can bother people that talented individuals who generate revenues are paid salaries that reflect their value. Isn't that what everyone wants out of their job? It's upsets me I can't get it in my own work. But I'm not going to take it out on a baseball player.

Seven · #21 12-12-2023, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

Oh my! Dodgers are DEFERRING COMPENSATION!! Can you believe it!! What rampant corruption and abuse!! I don't like this at all!

I apologize if the points I was trying to make weren't clear. The two things are separate issues, I'm by no means saying the deferring of compensation is corrupt. I'm quite fine with how the deal was structured. The second point I made was more along the lines of owners of smaller market teams who feel like they couldn't afford a deal such as this, and such would raise this issue during the next CBA negotiation.

To my first point, I'm just a firm believer that too much money has permeated the sport. I fully understand that owning a team is a business, you want to maximize your profit. But these gaudy numbers that surround everything related to professional sports nowadays is pretty ridiculous.

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