Moneyball 2023 Contract Decisions

Regarding Shohei Ohtani

So I'm just going to leave Ohtani's contract amount blank for now and leave it up to Phil to decide what would be fair. I can't remember if we came to any hard decisions last year when this came up. I'd like to sign him for 5 years.


arb3:

Dominic Smith - cut
Yancy Diaz - Renew @ $4,000,000
Ronald Acuna - Sign for 7 years @ $7,772,000
Shohei Ohtani - Sign for 5 years @ ????????
Corbin Burnes - Sign for 5 years @ $6,033,000

arb2:

Nico Hoerner - Renew @ $3,000,000

arb1:

Dylan Carlson - Renew @ $2,000,000

pre-arb:

Alex Kiriloff - Renew @ $600,000
Reid Detmers - Renew @ $600,000
Tarik Skubal - Renew @ $700,000

I'm questioning the arb3 extensions given to Soto and Buehler. Section 9.10(b) of the rules describes the 5 year minimum length at the average 25%. But then the next paragraph says if a player has a salary that exceeds this structure, he can be extended at the current (higher) salary. Therefore Sota should be extended at $8.89 M instead of $7.772 M, and Buhler at $6.26 M rather than $6.033 M. There could be others that I missed.

For clarification, it does not appear that the higher salary amount applies to a 4 year extension, as it is not mentioned in Section 9.10(a), and the additional paragraph under 9.10(b) only mentions 5 year extensions. Is that correct?

Nice catch. The rule, while it follows the Arb3 signing rule, is meant to apply to all contract extensions. Any player being offered a contract extension can be signed for no less than their existing salary. I will look at every contract and make sure they are correct.

Phil

So I'm just going to leave Ohtani's contract amount blank for now and leave it up to Phil to decide what would be fair. I can't remember if we came to any hard decisions last year when this came up. I'd like to sign him for 5 years.

I'll go back and look, but my gut tells me he should be extended at the sum of his DH and SP salaries.

Regarding dharma's contracts, I think Urquidy should be renewed at his current salary of $3.44 M, and Ferguson at $4 M, the arb3 year minimum.

I was an auditor for over 30 years, and I think it's now carrying over to Moneyball--LOL

It's important that we get these right, feel free to check every team's list, including mine.

Regarding dharma's contracts, I think Urquidy should be renewed at his current salary of $3.44 M, and Ferguson at $4 M, the arb3 year minimum.

I was an auditor for over 30 years, and I think it's now carrying over to Moneyball--LOL

I appreciate your auditor's eyes, if you don't mind sharing.

Phil

Regarding dharma's contracts, I think Urquidy should be renewed at his current salary of $3.44 M, and Ferguson at $4 M, the arb3 year minimum.

I was an auditor for over 30 years, and I think it's now carrying over to Moneyball--LOL

These make sense to me. I've made corrections. Thanks.

@EvilSpock There was only one DH in the entire player pool, so I decided to use the SP pitcher price for his contract settlement.

@oldmansmith: I will set up the league this weekend to start a week from Monday.

Phil

@EvilSpock There was only one DH in the entire player pool, so I decided to use the SP pitcher price for his contract settlement.

@oldmansmith: I will set up the league this weekend to start a week from Monday.

Phil

Even Chris' father has to question a $6 mil contract as being fair for Ohtani. We talked last year about using 1B or LF as the basis for DH contracts. While I don't think it's fair to just add the SP and 1B totals together to come up with Ohtani's contract cause that ignores the decrease in his value for not fielding a position, maybe adding the SP salary plus 2/3 of the 1B salary would be reasonable. Anyway just my thoughts, I'm pretty sure others are going to weigh in on this.

Even Chris' father has to question a $6 mil contract as being fair for Ohtani. We talked last year about using 1B or LF as the basis for DH contracts. While I don't think it's fair to just add the SP and 1B totals together to come up with Ohtani's contract cause that ignores the decrease in his value for not fielding a position, maybe adding the SP salary plus 2/3 of the 1B salary would be reasonable. Anyway just my thoughts, I'm pretty sure others are going to weigh in on this.

Ohtani is a conundrum. I’m only half joking when I say his price should be the sum of DH and SP. The SP price is a bargain given that it is lower than every position player except catcher. One way to think about Ohtani is he allows Evil to effectively add a roster spot to his team. That alone has to be worth something.

I’d love to hear suggestions on the Ohtani pricing problem. The avg of DH + SP times 2? Times 1.5? Any solution will be arbitrary.