Fake News
For about a year, I have been predicting that Shohei Ohtani will not be a Dodger. Until proven wrong, I stand by that… STILL! On November 11th, I wrote this: “ Everyone seems to revere Ohtani as “God-like,” and while he is an amazing talent, I think any team that is determined…
For about a year, I have been predicting that Shohei Ohtani will not be a Dodger. Until proven wrong, I stand by that… STILL! On November 11th, I wrote this:
“Everyone seems to revere Ohtani as “God-like,” and while he is an amazing talent, I think any team that is determined to sign him is going to regret it very much. I believe you are going to see him start to break down at much more regular intervals. Yes, he is a freak! But he is human, and as we age, injuries are part of the process. Our bodies do not recover as quickly. Ohtani credits sleep with being a recovery mechanism, and he sleeps up to 12 hours a night! He considers sleep as a “recovery” method… and he is right! Sleep is a recovery method that works. I have successfully used it to recover quickly from back surgery and cardioversion, which successfully eliminated A-Fib. I know that it works, but it still will not make Ohtani Superman.
—Mark Timmons
OK, I am going to say something, and here it is: Andrew Friedman will not give Ohtani a contract that hamstrings the Dodgers! Now, what that means exactly, I do not know. But here is what I do know: The Investment Group that bought the Dodgers paid the most ever as a group for the team (over $2 Billion Dollars), and while it is appreciating in value, investorswant, no… demand, an annual return on their capital, and the Dodgers deliver that! I think that anytime the Dodgers sign a player, they have to ask, “What is the worst-case scenario if we sign this player?”
What is the worst-case scenario with Shohei? OK, (1) He never recovers enough to be a successful pitcher again (OK, you could live with that); (2) He frequently is injured and maybe only averages 110 games a year; and (3) his power production goes down. If he was making $300 Million over ten years, you might be able to live with that, but you can’t pick and choose when injuries occur. However, if he commands $400 to $500 Million over 10 to 12 years, that is a contract that will hamstring the Dodgers.
See, what Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers are doing is different than any other team in baseball: They want to be relevant and contend every year… and they have done that for the past ten years, and there is no end in sight to that dominant streak. No other team in baseball does that. The fact that they have won only one World Series and were cheated out of another one in that run is not lost on intelligent fans. The morons don’t get it. I am not going to get into that aspect right now, as you can’t tell really stupid people anything! However, I am good with that. I would rather enjoy a winning team, year after year, than win a World Series and then tank for five years! You may feel differently… and that is your prerogative! With the way the playoffs have changed, it is a crapshoot to a large degree, and if you can’t understand that… especially after this season, the lights are on, but nobody is home.
So, unless Andrew Friedman comes up with some very creative way of mitigating risk while signing Ohtani, I do not think it is prudent for the Dodgers to do so, and even if the Dodgers do sign him, I will still abide by that. I do not think it is wise.“
There has been lots of disinformation on where Ohtani is going to land, and one website even proclaimed yesterday: “Shohei Ohtani to Sign with Toronto Blue Jays over Los Angeles Dodgers: Sources“. As of this minute, that is fake news. People are so eager to break a story that they have to make stuff up. I gained a lot of respect for Dave Roberts, who, earlier this week, did not play the Ohtani silent game and acknowledged that the Dodgers had met with Ohtani. Brandon Gomes and Andrew Friedman still play the role of Ohtani’s Little Bitches. I have lost some respect for them, but Andrew Friedman could step up as a man and regain that respect by saying, “Shohei, since you can’t make the decision, I will make it for you. Let me introduce our new DH – JD Martinez. Have a nice life!”
There is no Shohei in team! Move on from him now, Andrew! Let’s get on with the offseason deals.
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Discussion (148)
Disagree, not disagreeable
way to go bluto! always someone bringing everyone else down!
What I really can’t believe is that Ohtani came to the Dodgers after that pride day so event with the sisters of intolerance.!
I’ve been saying all along that I thought it would be a bad move for the Dodgers to give a deal like this to Ohtani. I don’t know why they didn’t listen to me. 🙂 I’ve been a Dodgers fan for over 70 yrs. I hope I’m around long enough to see him prove that he was worth it.
Go-o-o-o-o Dodgers!
FINALLY!! Hard to process at the moment but needless to say, a historic moment in sport’s history!! I’m with Bear on this….. let the dust settle and let’s see who all shows up at Camelback in February. Congrats to those on the site who were pro Ohtani signing (especially Andrew Vincent Forte) and to Mark and those against the signing…… try to enjoy this historic moment today and let’s see what else AF & Co do up until ST. Love this site and all the passion expressed but if I may offer just one suggestion….. Bluto, you really need to get laid, brah!!!!
Well the Dodgers had the choice of going big or going home. They went big, really big. Based on what we think we know at this point, the Dodgers cut a deal that apparently defers quite a bit of money, Ohtani’s idea, so that explains how the Dodgers move forward and be able to add veteran pitchers for 2024.
Signing with LA is good for baseball. Major market, chance to win it all and it will definitely excite the fan base.
Will the Dodgers pursue Yamamoto? It has been reported the Dodgers really like 22 year Roki Sasaki. He has asked to be posted. There was a report he has a clause in his contract allowing him to get posted. If that’s true, the Dodgers would probably be all over it.
Beyond that, expect the Dodgers to push hard in the trade market.
It’s an absurd, irresponsible, dope fiend signing … but who cares? It’s a good pivot away from meticulously building a value based, deep and resilient regular season team just to have them lose out to the vagaries of the playoffs.
Now, instead of looking at the regular season as a means to an end – getting to the playoffs with home field advantage (which doesn’t help), only to see them get bounced and feel like that 162 game season was a waste – now I can just watch the best baseball player on Planet Earth play for the team I love for 162 games. It’s entertainment. I’ll take it.
Bummer. I guess that means the Dodgers aren’t going to sign Jordan Montgomery and his 4.00 ERA. Oh well.
What did Guggenheim see in the doctor report That made this decision to sign Ohtani
it’s a lot of money! but, he’s not Assrod. he’s not Big head Bonds. he’s not Sosa. he’s not Tatis, Machado, or any of those guys. he is one hell of a hitter, and pitcher if he is all the way back in 25! and comparing him to Soto. he would probably be a better outfielder than soto. and better baserunner. now if he never pitches again he will always be considered somewhat of a bust. once baseball starts , most dodger fans will forget about the contract unless he hits .225 with 13 homers. now waiting on the yankees to start crying about we are the evil empire. that’s because ohthani didn’t want to play for them. hey , my 10 year old grandson is over run with joy!! and for me , that makes it worth it!
I love the people being upset at this move.
As I said well before this move, lots of dingbats.
guess LeBron will sign with the dodgers now. he won’t have to travel to far with his talents!
The Angels have the toughest pill to swallow in seeing Ohtani not just leave, but head across town to the other Los Angeles team. Because the Halos were just barely able to maneuver themselves under the luxury tax threshold, the Angels will maximize their compensatory return for Ohtani, who naturally rejected a qualifying offer. Anaheim will now get a compensatory pick after the second round of the 2024 draft, which is admittedly small consolation for losing one of the singular talents that the game has ever seen. There hasn’t been any sense what the Angels are planning to rebuild or take a step back now that Ohtani is gone, as the team has reportedly still been trying to add top-end talent to finally get back into contention.
Ohtani for $700 million seems crazy. But I will wait to see the contact details. The Dodgers probably recoup a lot of that money through prearranged streaming, deferrals, or other revenues. I think this contract will likely have negative ramifications for the Dodgers and the MLB long term. As Steve Phillips just said, even with Ohtani, the Dodgers are not a playoff team right now with their pitching staff. In my view, the Dodgers are creating problems with all of their other players who see so much money going to one guy who is a DH and injured. I wouldn’t be surprised if in 2024 Ohtani underperforms what the Dodgers got from JDM at DH for $10 million last year. But then again, in six years in the MLB, Ohtani has never made an out in the postseason yet!
Wowwwwww. Just Wowwwwww.
10 years for 700 million. That is at least 100 million more than the wildest speculation were going.Dodgers must be very hopeful the man will pitch well in 2025
Still need two starting pitchers for 2024, one of them a top of the rotation guy.
Still a great day to be a Dodgers fan.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paraphrasing Mark……while the rest of baseball is playing checkers….the Guggenheim Dodgers are playing chess!
But as a fan I love it! If we can pick up a couple of top starters this year. Dodgers must believe in young pitching prospects to keep payroll down next 6-7 years. Will AF blow us away again with 300 mil for Yamamoto?
I had a funny feeling when I read the Blue Jays were the favorite to get him but he was waiting on his favorite team to make a better offer. That smelled like AF trying to get away with a lower offer (that’s a good thing) knowing Ohtani’s favorite team is the Dodgers.
Why the hate for Mark?
This was NOT AF’s decision. This was ownership’s final decision.
Ohtani is dodger
Hoonstra and Morosi left holding the bag. We’ll get stories in the coming days that Ohtani committed to the Blue Jays and Hoonstra had multiple sources supporting his premature story only to realize the Dodgers made an 11th hour offer thereby allowing him to save face.
It’s crazy money and may not make sense but it makes us an immensely better team. Betts, Ohtani, Freeman and Smith. Good luck getting through that offensive line-up.
Now comes the MiLb talent moved to acquire pitching or what the hell just go get Yamamoto.
They can’t defer the luxury tax hit the contract counts as 70 million a year towards the tax. All deferring does is decrease the actual yearly cost but it does nothing to reduce the luxury tax. Betts and Freeman both have deferred payments but it doesn’t reduce their luxury tax number. If it did all contracts would have half the amount deferred. My opinion is this is a dumb contract unless the Dodgers have some sort of out clause.
The real question now is what is his dogs name?
Finally! Huge victory!! Lets Go Dodgers!!!
What you are missing is the deferred money. Read everything before you post.
Shohei Ohtani asked to defer a lot of this cash to help us sign more people. That’s the type of guy he is, despite the nonsense some people said about him the past week.
To all those who didn’t want him, I have 29 other organizations’ phone numbers and am happy to make an introduction.
To those who do want him, LFG!
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X link), “most of” Ohtani’s salary will be deferred, as suggested by Ohtani himself. The intent is so that the Dodgers can continue to spend and add talent while somewhat lowering the luxury tax hit. Regardless of how the $700MM is eventually parceled out over the coming years or decades, Ohtani will be bringing in the single largest contract ever given to a professional athlete, topping the $674MM deal that soccer legend Lionel Messi signed with FC Barcelona for the 2017-21 La Liga seasons.