Rants & Raves

Hoornstra says it’s the Blue Jays!

Ohtani should finalize the contract with the Dodgers if it includes Trout… now that M. Bets is permanently at 2nd base Merry Xmas !

By the way, there is a private jet on the way to Toronto from Orange County, whatever that means.

Good analysis JayB. The additional revenue Ohtani brings is important to offset his salary cost. But Ohtani turned down and disrespected the Dodgers the first time around. The Dodgers brought Friedman, Roberts, Kershaw, and Turner to meet him and he was disinterested.

The Angels benefited from having 6 prime years of Ohtani for $42 million total. The first 5 years, they only paid him $12 million. They also had Trout who was the best player in baseball. And they did not have even a winning season in the 6 years of Ohtani. The idea that Ohtani will bring 1-3 WS titles in the next 6 years is optimistic. It is a team game and elevating one player above the other players is dangerous, especially an injured and aging player. Veteran Dodger players like Buehler and Will Smith have brought a WS title and multiple division titles to LA and are still guaranteed under $10 million total, yet the Dodgers will give $600 million to a non-Dodger. I could see this contract causing the Dodgers to lose their younger guys in the future. I would invest first in Dodger players before making an outsider the highest paid player in MLB history. They did the same thing with Bauer in 2021 and it did not work out then.

Gotta look at this in a glass-half-full kinda way, guys.

If he signs here, we’ve got ourselves quite possibly the best player of all time.

If he signs in Toronto (or elsewhere), we’ve just saved ourselves 600 mil to spend on other players, half of which will be available for Yamamoto whom we actually need more than we do Shohei. And that will still give us lots to further build our roster.

There have been few (if any) references to what Ohtani means economically in extra revenue. The estimates of what he is worth in world wide marketing and extra ticket, parking, & concession sales is between $25-50MM/year. The Dodgers are probably on the low end of that because ticket sales will increase but not as much because of what we draw every year.

If we assume $25MM, that brings his annual net cost to $25-30MM, well within the ballpark for a superstar hitter. I understand the issues of handcuffing the team in the later years of the contract. However, I have to believe the contract would provide some sort of insurance against his never pitching again.

With that in mind, if he could help bring 1-3 championships in the next 6 years, signing him is kind of a no brainer. I’m fairly certain all this has gone into the team’s analysis of this deal. I also cannot understand all the “don’t sign him” comments on this site. He is the best player in the game today. If he does pitch well again, he will be the best player in the game for several years to come. You do not pass on this kind of opportunity and accept whatever risk is involved.

I of course will have no input or effect on the Ohtani situation.

I am not eager to see the Dodgers commit that much money ($500M+ as speculated) over 10 years (as guessed). Just doesn’t seem prudent to me. Happy to have a competitor spend that much!

Hate to see that level of resource spent on one person, even if they are a superstar (who can’t pitch for a year). I guess we’ll know soon enough…..

In a corporate environment if no comment is the expected response and running your mouth screws up a big deal you would not be emplyoed much less considered a breath of fresh air last i checked Dodgers were a corporate environment just saying

Could Ohtani end up becoming a PR disaster if secrecy is going to be a contingency while playing for a major market team?

I’m beginning to wonder if he will be able to handle the media circus that is going to follow him the rest of his career.

Things got pretty spicy between former Dodger and current SportsNet LA analyst Jerry Hairston Jr. and Sid Seixeiro of Breakfast Television Toronto.

It began with Hairston making a sales pitch to Shohei Ohtani on why he should sign with the Dodgers rather than the Toronto Blue Jays.

“Like Tommy Lasorda said, ‘If you want to be a real Angel, you have to put on Dodger blue…’ Canada is too cold, man! In your lovely Newport Beach home, you can commute— if you want to stay there— to Dodger Stadium every single night. The fanbase is electric. The stadium is always rocking.”

It’s definitely crazy.

It’s time for the Dodgers to step forward and tell Ohtani we need an answer. They probably won’t want to do that. But it is the right thing to do. If it cost you the player so be it.

Have to wonder if they go all in on Yamamoto if they lose Ohtani.

There is no guarantee that Ohtani will make a decision this weekend. That apparently was just speculation from one individual, who had no direct knowledge. Funny how that works. Spread like fire.

There are numerous paths to success. The longer this goes on, the better those other paths look.

The Dodgers need pitching. Ohtani won’t pitch in 2024. The DBacks have a pretty good rotation. The Dodgers are young, potentially very good. They need a couple of vets.

The clarity that Friedman is talking about is the cost of acquiring that pitching will cost more in prospect capital.

Short term gain taking a bite out of the future.

I do like Imanaga. Pretty good lefty.

Ohtani is a different cat. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see him end up in Toronto or even back with the Angels.

One thing going around is that Yamamoto loves the Dodgers. But $300 million?

Why would the Dodgers fire Robert’s. What is he suppose to do lie? All this hush hush crap was nonsense. Roberts was a breath of fresh air.

If ohtani dose not sign with Dodgers will they fire Roberts since he gave us an example of what a moron is?

Morosi says decision is imminent and may come today. (just passing on the info)

The Dodgers may not be allowed by the Ohtani camp to announce his signing even if he signs. Only that they have signed an unnamed player for 500 mil.

Ohtani signs with us today. I’ll bet my LADT membership on it.

Montgomery is rumored to be signing back with Texas. Let him go there. Better options out there.