700 Million Dollar Man

[Sonic Temple]

WTF - I don't even know what to say!

Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani selects Los Angeles Dodgers with 10-year, $700M contract | TSN

The news that Shohei Ohtani has chosen to stay in Southern California has left Toronto Blue Jays fans heartbroken.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Sonic Temple]

As these contracts get more ridiculous in nature - you know we are just years away from the Billion Dollar contract.

 

[xmontrealer]

It was fun to hope, and lots of anticipation for the Toronto Sun to write about, but was there ever really a chance he would sign with the Jays?

At least with Kawhi Leonard we did actually get him for one season, and the championship. But despite all the fuss in the news during that season there was never any real chance of a second season as a Raptor, imho.

Sells papers though...

 

[shack]

Have we heard anything from Ross Bumpkin yet?

Can't wait to hear his corporate double talk.

 

[tml]

I think we should view this as 2 concurrent 10 year $350 million contracts since he plays 2 positions throughout the season.

 

[Fun For All]

It was fun to hope, and lots of anticipation for the Toronto Sun to write about, but was there ever really a chance he would sign with the Jays?

At least with Kawhi Leonard we did actually get him for one season, and the championship. But despite all the fuss in the news during that season there was never any real chance of a second season as a Raptor, imho.

Sells papers though...

Leonard came via trade so he actually had to come...I wonder why there was no New York teams involved in the Ohtani chase?...this was a good snub for the Jays, they can use the money more wisely although now they won't make hundreds of millions of dollars selling Ohtani jerseys...Los Angeles Dodgers will be disappointed.

 

[Darts]

I think we should view this as 2 concurrent 10 year $350 million contracts since he plays 2 positions throughout the season.

Who's currently the highest paid pitcher who pitches only every 4th or 5th day?

He's 29 now. How many more peak years before he declines?

 

[saxon]

A lot of this contract will be deferred for many years and there are no opt out clauses.

 

[xmontrealer]

Who's currently the highest paid pitcher who pitches only every 4th or 5th day?

He's 29 now. How many more peak years before he declines?

Babe Ruth was an excellent pitcher, but of course his bat was more important on an everyday basis, so after several years as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, and after his sale to the Yankees, he was primarily an outfielder.

short Wikipedia excerpt:
New York Yankees (1920–1934)
When Ruth signed with the Yankees, he completed his transition from a pitcher to a power-hitting outfielder. His fifteen-season Yankee career consisted of over 2,000 games, and Ruth broke many batting records while making only five widely scattered appearances on the mound, winning all of them.

another excerpt:
On March 4, 1922, Ruth signed a new contract for three years at $52,000 a year (equivalent to $910,000 in 2022). This was more than two times the largest sum ever paid to a ballplayer up to that point and it represented 40% of the team's player payroll.

 

[hockeyguy19]

At the end of the day, it is more than likely that the Jays were being used to beef up Dodgers offer. Happens all the time.

 

[funstick]

It would have been fun and exciting, at least in the beginning and for a few years. I am not sure that Ohtani alone would have made the Jays a winner and I think this contract will become a huge burden in the later years.

 

[maurice93]

Seems like Ohtani / Ohtani's agent used Toronto as leverage to get a bigger deal to his preferred destination. There is no doubt to me that the Jays came in very high, which is why they stayed in the conversation so long.

The contract apparently has significant deferred compensation in order for LA to "Dodge" some or all of its Luxury Tax Consequences. Apparently the Present Value of the contract might be closer in value to $500-550M when the deferrals are discounted.

Still an insane amount. I do think though that the Present Value of the Jays Offer (which may not have had deferrals) was probably in the same ballpark or even higher than what the Dodgers offered.

 

[Toronto Passions]

Can't wait to hear his corporate double talk.

Question- Ross, did the Blue Jays actually make Ohtani an offer?

Atkins- it’s easy for 1 to assume that an agreement might be in place for a player of his calibre. Moving forward we do strive to make the ballclub better. We have identified collectively the areas where we need to improve.

Question- Ross did you make Ohtani an offer? And if so how much?

Atkins - At the end of every season we always ask ourselves how can we improve as a ballclub and what areas are needing to be addressed. If done correctly, establishing a mutual respect with the potential free agent signing is definitely a lucrative task.

Philip

 

[Toxboy75]

Ohtani was most likely going to sign with the Dodgers. Dodgers in the past 10 years have a better playoff record then the Angels and Jays combined. That being said Dodgers have had some great regular season records and choked in the playoffs.

 

[Darts]

Ohtani was most likely going to sign with the Dodgers. Dodgers in the past 10 years have a better playoff record then the Angels and Jays combined. That being said Dodgers have had some great regular season records and choked in the playoffs.

What is Kershaw thinking now? Great regular season pitcher, not so much in the playoffs.

 

[Insidious Von]

Ohtani was never going to sign with the Jays, the team is not attractive enough. They have two legit hitters and a wiff brigade that follows them. Last season the Jays left 104 runners in scoring position through their glorious wiffing. Rusculone Atkins hasn't even begun to address this problem. There were 4 other teams with higher totals than the Jays the LA Dodgers led the Majors with 118.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Ohtani decied to go with a big market team, which unfortunately the Jays are not

 

[shack]

Ohtani decied to go with a big market team, which unfortunately the Jays are not

The Jays have a whole country to themselves and a market of 35M. And their payroll was over the luxury tax level.

So, undeniably they ARE a big market team. They are not an a traditional American big market team.

 

[glamphotographer]

As these contracts get more ridiculous in nature - you know we are just years away from the Billion Dollar contract.

I will probably be in basketball.

 

[shack]

I will probably be in basketball.

Or lacrosse.