Ohtani joining Dodgers on 10-year, $700M deal

What were the concerns about Juan Soto? Documented, or heresy?

Think it's time for a 58M league called Ohtani Contract League ($700M / 12 Teams)

If you want my honest to God opinion...

Salaries in sports have become outrageous...

He’s an otherworldly athlete who, current injury aside, is still improving. Seems a decent bet that his skills will erode more slowly than a typical player…maybe not on the level of LeBron James (jumping sports here), but still, easily an all-star level player for another five-plus years.

There’s tremendous economic value for the Dodgers, having Ohtani wear the uni. He’s extremely popular, and not only in Japan. Of course, they need to be right about his longevity because if/when he stops playing at an elite level, the name value will diminish a touch. And this doesn’t mean he won’t be an albatross for them at the back end of the deal, and a hamstring on their finances for at least a decade after. One need only look at Miguel Cabrera to envision a worst case scenario from a competitive perspective.

The thing is, their finances are practically limitless

The thing is, their finances are practically limitless

Yes, the Dodgers were probably the only team that could sign him and won't be hamstrung by this deal in 2 seasons.

The Mariners could have signed him and still been outside the top 10 in payroll.

Apparently more than half the money is deferred. The details aren't yet known, but Fangraphs calculated that hypothetically if $400M is deferred over 40 years following the end of the contract, the present value of that money is actually $129M. Meaning his AAV would be $43M. Again totally hypothetical, but the main point is the AAV will be far less than $70M. Still a gobsmacking deal obviously.

As far as the "just a DH" arguments...even ignoring his pitching value he was the 5th most valuable position player in the sport last year, with less than 600 PA. And even if he's not the same pitcher after a second TJ, I bet he could at least still add significant value as a reliever.

Wow he's making $2M during the contract then $68M a year for 10 years after, incredible. According to the nerds it comes out to a $46M AAV.

During negotiations the only thing heard from Ohtani's camp was that he wanted to play for a winner. By deferring mega-millions he is staying true to his word. Good on him. Now the Dodgers can be in on Yamamota and the other free agent SP's to shore up their current AAAA staff. The Yanks and others also need SP. Whose purse will remain open the longest?

Yes good for him, the structure of the deal absolutely shows him to be more interested in rings than $. I'm so disgusted by Mariners ownership these days I might just jump ship to the Dodgers...but every few years I seem to try that and mostly fail.