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Ohtani to the Dodgers for $700M · The 3-0 Take

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
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all things Major League Baseball.
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Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes.
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It all starts right now. Welcome back to the Three O Take
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presented by CK. This is Episode 404.
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I'll be your host, Kyle Cord. And I'm riding solo tonight, a
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little bit of an emergency pod. I know it wasn't immediately
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following the show. Hey to the Dodgers news, but got
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to it as quickly as I could. Needed to get it out before the
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week started. So here we are Sunday night
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breaking down the show. Hey, Ohtani to the Dodgers move
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$700 million, $700 million. Let's run it again, $700
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million. Are you kidding me?
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People thought, OK, let let's just take a second to think
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about this. People thought they said there's
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no way there's no way this guy gets 505 hundred half a billion
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dollars and then you know time starts to go on days pass and
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people start to think could we get to 666 has to be the cat
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like no more than six. You had you had pros pros
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talking about this you I mean the ultimate professionals the
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experts talking about there's no that it stops at six it he's a
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great player two way something we've never seen since Babe Ruth
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better than Babe Ruth but it stops at six no.
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The Dodger said you know what how how about 7.
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How about seven let can we try 7.
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And the craziest thing there I got look I got a lot of thoughts
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and and I'm going to get into them here The craziest thing
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about this whole thing is that even in the last 24 hours we
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have seen and this is sad we have seen the narrative
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surrounding Shohei Ohtani completely flip on its head.
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We went from talking about how, and I say we I don't.
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I don't include myself here. I'm not.
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I'm not. I'm certainly not part of this
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narrative. I'm not pushing this camp.
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The narrative literally 48 hours ago Shohei Ohtani, Unicorn
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greatest we've ever seen, possibly will go down as the
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greatest of all time. Deserves a blank check.
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Oh, what's that? He signed with the Dodgers for
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700 million. Washed.
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Might not even pitch again. Overrated about himself.
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Worst contract of all time. What are we talking about?
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Honestly, What are we? What are we doing as baseball
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fans? This whole This whole scenario
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that has played out over the last two days has really just to
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me, encapsulated where baseball is at right now.
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You've got I don't even we're going to get into the the
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reporters but you've got reporters talking about he's on
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a flight to Toronto you've got reporters apologize.
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You've got reporters correcting one another.
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You've got baseball fans as I've already mentioned flip flopping
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overnight on this guy. We're talking about the greatest
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baseball player that if there ever was any question.
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Can we just go ahead now that this deal is all but done?
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I don't. As of right now I don't know if
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the Dodgers have technically acknowledged this deal yet
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officially in an official capacity.
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But if there was any ever, if there was ever any question, can
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we just go ahead and say that the the largest contract in
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North American sports history if if not like world history I has
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there been a greater contract than 700 million?
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Can we just go ahead and say that the guy that gets that,
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like by far is probably the greatest baseball player I've
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ever seen. So there's just been so much
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that's happened again within the last two days that has me and
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and I'm not trying to put myself on any sort of pedestal or high
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horse here. But I've just sat back and and
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laughed like sure, I got the graphic out letting you letting
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the folks know, hey look, 10 years, 700 mil, do that what you
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will. But I wasn't sitting there
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trying to break down the financials of it.
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I wasn't sitting there trying to talk about, well, is it really
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worth it? We'll get into that spoiler
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yeah, it is. But just so much has happened,
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and for such AI don't want to say tumultuous, but for such a
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whirlwind of a free agency storyline that the show, hey
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camp and company has brought with it to me.
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It's just it's wild yet very predictable that it ended up
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with him signing with the Dodgers.
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It's just it's very strange to me, the fact that I feel like
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there was a handful of teams. Granted, you can probably count
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them on one hand. How many realistically we're
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going to be able to do this or something even remotely close to
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this. I don't know if anybody but the
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Dodgers would go 700 mil. Although maybe the Padres.
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The Padres probably would have went like a Billy, paid him till
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he's like 60. Because I I don't.
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That just seems to be something they do know.
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But I just thought that you know he might end up with somebody
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else. It just it it seemed too easy.
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I'll say that it seemed too easy, too predictable and credit
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to some of the folks out there who had been saying this since
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day one. But I've seen a lot of people
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saying, well, he was never going to the Giants.
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He was never going to the such and such like slow down, let
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let's not let's not rewrite history here, OK?
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I I think it was fair to say that majority of baseball fans
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were waiting on pins and needles trying to figure out is he
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coming to my team or is he just going to end up with the
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Dodgers. And I think they had good reason
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to think that you know, there it's it's a possibility because
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after all, again I I mentioned a couple episodes ago if you watch
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that show, hey doc, I think it's like ESPN plus whatever.
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If you watch that his own agent and people in his circle talked
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about the fact that nobody really understood why he went to
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the Angels, there wasn't a great reason.
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And I don't even know if Shohei is technically provided one at
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least in a in an official capacity, maybe in passing.
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But I don't think any explanation has really been
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provided for just why he decided for the Angels.
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So that decision in and of itself right there tells you,
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OK, well if he's going to go to the Angels knowing, I mean I'm
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sure he did his research before he made that decision, knowing
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that it's not exactly the Dodgers, it's not the Yankees.
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It's like the the even the Cubs. It's not one of these
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prestigious franchises in that regard.
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So it's not. It wasn't to me at least it
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wasn't exactly a shoo in for him to end up with the Dodgers.
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Again, it was predictable. It was it was likely.
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But I was not writing. I was not writing these other
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teams off by any stretch. And so all of this happens and
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we find this out from a statement that he makes on
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Instagram which to me is one of I'll call it a highlight is one
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of is one of the the ultimate highlights of this whole fiasco
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if you want to call it that. Because as I mentioned, you had
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people tracking flights, private private jet flights, You had
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people checking reservations for restaurants in Toronto.
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You had again, I've, I've, I sound like a broken record at
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this point. You have reporters just not
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having a clue as to what's going on with this guy, pretending
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that they know, but nobody knew until Shohei Ohtani himself
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comes out with a post on Instagram with the most generic
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image I think I've ever seen. I mean, I he may.
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Honestly, the more I think I've and I've been thinking about it,
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like how in the world could you just post the most generic
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graphic on Instagram? He may have jumped the gun like,
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I I would love to know the story of what went down the day that
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this all came out on on Saturday.
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Because you would think that his camp would be like yo shohei,
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maybe. At the very least go to Google
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Images and at least search like high res Dodger logos before you
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go posting it to social media if that like if that's the route
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you're going to take, do your thing, dude, you're the $700
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million man. But just a word of advice, maybe
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search like high res images because I looked at that and
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literally I'm pretty sure he went to Google images search
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Dodgers logo and pulled like from the first four or five
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images that came up. I don't know.
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But all that to say, he comes out with this, with this
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statement, and I'll read it here.
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I mean, I'm, I'm sure it's reached the masses at this
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point. But for for those who maybe
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missed it or didn't catch the translation, I'll.
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I'll put this out for you guys. To all the fans and everyone
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involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long
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to come to a decision. I decided to choose the Dodgers
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as my next team. First of all, I would like to
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express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the
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Angels organization and the fans who have supported me over the
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past six years, as well as to everyone involved with each
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team. That was part of this
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negotiation process, especially to the Angels fans who supported
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me through all of the ups and downs.
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Your guy's support and cheer meant the world to me.
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The six years I spent with the Angels will remain etched in my
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heart forever, and to all Dodgers fans, I pledge to always
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do what's best for the team and always continue to give it my
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all to be the best version of myself.
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Until the last day of my playing career, I want to continue to
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strive forward, not only for the Dodgers, but for the baseball
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world. There are some things that
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cannot be conveyed in writing, so I would like to talk more
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about this again at a late at a later press conference.
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Thank you very much. Now you tell me after Just
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haven't heard that, and presumably having read that at
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some point over the last few days, you tell me, does this
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sound like a guy that's all about himself?
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Does this sound like a guy who's only concerned about #1?
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Does this sound like a guy who lacks respect for the people
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that he interacts with at a professional level, whether it's
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representatives from a N from another organization, whether
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it's fans of another organization, fans of his own,
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his former organization? Does this sound like a guy that
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isn't worthy of your respects as a baseball player?
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I think he's very much deserving of your respect, whether you,
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whether you're an Angels fan, whether you're a Dodgers fan,
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whether you're a fan of the Blue Jays who's upset that he's not
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coming to Toronto. That statement right there, have
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you, have you ever heard of a of a statement following an
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acquisition, a trade, a free agency signing of a player of
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this caliber where he comes out and starts it with, I want to
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apologize for taking so long to come to a decision.
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I mean, I I had to do a double or triple take when I read that
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because I'm going, dude, you don't you don't owe us an
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apology. You don't owe us anything like
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your Shohei Ohtani and the thing that cracks me up about all of
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this. And I'll I'll need to reference
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this tweet because I don't want to misquote.
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And it's it's just it's it perfectly encapsulates again,
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where we are as a sport as fans. It it, it's laughable, Morgan
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Bag on Twitter says it's funny. The argument is being made that
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the MLB needs a salary cap for parody's sake, despite the fact
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that in 2023 the Yankees, Mets and Padres all missed the play
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offs. The Orioles won the AL ES, Tampa
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Bay and Miami made the wild card and Arizona won the NLCS.
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And then she follows up and says, why do you not want the
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greatest player of this generation, and maybe of all
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time, to get paid? Like you say that you want you,
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you say as baseball fans that you're pro player.
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You you say that you want these guys to get paid and commentated
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fairly considering the amount of money that the sport makes.
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And so you have a guy here that is getting paid, but The thing
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is is in the process he wants to keep it private.
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And we laugh at that. We scoff at that as fans and we
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say and you got got again to to to revisit the Buster only piece
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you've got reporters talking about.
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Well this is a huge miss for baseball.
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It's it's it's sort of embarrassing almost that he's
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he's taking this approach and you've got fans talking about
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well he's just all about himself.
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Would you would you just suck it up and stop being a diva and
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just move on. But then you got people that
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talk about a guy like LeBron James for and if you if you're
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old enough to recall the the the feature that he did The Decision
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when he announced that he was going to Miami.
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That right there just goes to show you that people just love
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to complain about things because you've got a guy regardless how
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you feel about LeBron James in that moment.
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And he would tell he's he's told us before like if if he could go
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back and do it again he he would because it he just it wasn't it
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wasn't the right thing to do making it all about himself at
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that at that point in time. But he was young in his career.
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So, you know, we, we move on. But you got a guy like that in
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that scenario where he's all about himself, and then you've
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got a guy like Shohei who's like, look, I'm not trying to
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have any information, but I think everybody and their mother
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knows it. This is about to be a rather
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historic moment for this sport and selfishly for myself.
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You know, he's not, he's not an idiot.
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All I ask is that we just keep this behind closed doors.
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That's it. You know, I don't, I don't want.
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I don't want things to be used as leverage.
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I don't want, I don't want to be manipulated.
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I don't want to be taken advantage of.
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I want to get what I'm worth because I recognize the value
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that I bring to whatever organization I'm a part of.
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But at the very least, can we just keep it behind closed
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doors? That's it.
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So you you. I don't know.
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It's just so frustrating hearing people flip flop on this guy
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because up until Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, I
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was of the belief that not one person out there dislike show.
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Hey, how, I mean how could you? And now just all these it's it's
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it's just crazy, man. The tune has completely changed
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and it's it's really pitiful and I and I feel for the guy, man.
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I mean, my goodness, you make this decision, you you assume
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it's gonna be well received. But no, I think the human race,
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specifically the baseball fan population, really revealed its
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true nature. And after all of this, just.
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I mean the fact that I was, I kid you not.
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I was seeing words. Overrated, washed, worst
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contract of all time, injury prone.
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Like all of these things. Just being thrown out left and
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right and I think it's just because they're upset that he
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didn't end up with their club. That's it.
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But anyway, all that to say, let's let we need to talk.
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We need to rewind here and then we need to talk about the the
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lead up to all of this because my goodness, what a circus.
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And look, any opportunity I get to just rail on these MLB
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so-called reporters, I'm going to I'm going to take it now more
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than ever. Maybe not in the past, but I'm
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I'm beyond fed up with these reporters, man.
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I mean what a joke like it. It's it's the sports equivalent
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of a weatherman. Now it that's that's where
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that's where it's gotten. You can be right maybe 1/3 of
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the time and you're still going to keep your job.
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It's it's pitiful. It's absolutely pitiful as a as
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a baseball reporter we need to de evolve from becoming
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clickbait. We're becoming the laughing sock
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of sports and honestly I've already I've already dove into
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this at length. But this whole digital media
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world that has been born honestly even just within like
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the last six months to a year where where the monetization and
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again I'm not I'm not trying to pretend like I know which of
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these guys is are monetized, what impact clicks and
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impressions has. All I know is that it's safe to
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say now, and I'm, I'm not speculating, it's just reality.
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It's where we are that a majority now of what these guys
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are putting out aside from Jeff Pass.
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And I think we can all agree that unless Jeff tweets it out,
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you may as well continue to hold your breath because nothing's
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for certain unless Jeff tweets it out.
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The majority of what these guys are putting out out now is just
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it's impressions, it's click bait, it's it's speculation
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intended to their credit. It gets people talking about the
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game, It gets people talking about individuals like Shohei,
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Juan Soto, guys like that, guys of that nature.
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But it's such a bad look, and it's so draining, man, trying to
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keep up with these rumors. And you have.
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You have. I'm just going to Call My Name.
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John Morosi. What?
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My my friend. What are we doing?
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What are we doing? Who is your source?
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Who's telling you that Shohei is on a plane to Toronto?
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If nobody's telling you that, why are you just pulling it from
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the Internet, not truly knowing? Because you know, in the
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position that you're in, Mr. Morosi, that we it's it's really
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a funnel here. It's really a funnel.
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It's a pyramid. It's a triangle.
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The baseball reporters are up here, or so we think.
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They're up here. They're the funnel of
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information from these so-called sources.
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Again, nobody really knows if any of these guys actually have
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legitimate sources because I'm that's really, that's something
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that's really come into question in the last two to three years
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given the the debacle after debacle that we've seen in the
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trade deadline periods and the free agency periods.
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But that's on you like don't don't look at us.
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And he he certainly acknowledged it.
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He apologized. We we got to that or he got to
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that rather. But we're looking to you.
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We're looking to John Morosi, we're looking to Jeff Passer.
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We're looking to Bob Nightingale.
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Guys like that and as as often as they mess up, who else do we
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have to look to? We can't.
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We can't reach out to these agencies.
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We don't have these sources. So all we can do is really just
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rely on your word. And I'll be honest, their word
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doesn't really mean all that much anymore.
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And so you've got a guy like John Morosi again talking about,
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well Show Hayes on a flight to Toronto, and it turns out it was
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it was freaking ROB from Shark Tank.
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It was ROB from Shark Tank and then John Morosi comes back out
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again. You you all have probably
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already seen this and read this but he comes back out with an
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apology. Well, the initial, the again for
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if you haven't seen it he comes out with the initial tweet.
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Shohei Otani says sources that's that's my favorite when they
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start out with sources. Who's your source?
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John Shohei Otani is en route to Toronto today.
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This is this is on the 8th. A representative of his agency,
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CAA, would not comment when asked about Ohtani's travel
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plans at this hour. Ohtani does not have a signed
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agreement with any Major League team later that day tweets to
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and it's his. It's his pin, his pin tweet
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right now on his profile if you want to go see it.
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So you must be pretty remorseful about it.
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Today I posted reporting that included inaccurate information
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that Shohei Otani was traveling to Toronto.
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I regret the mistake and apologize to baseball fans
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everywhere. I'm deeply sorry for letting you
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down. My question is this.
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So what if he was on a flight to Toronto?
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Was it what I'm. I'm guessing the answer is yes.
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Was it worth the impressions? But was it worth looping
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yourself Because I think John Morosi, if we can be on and I I
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don't want to spend any more time harping on John Morosi,
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they're they're all guilty of it to some degree.
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But was it was it worth it, John, to loop yourself in there
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with guys like Bob Nightingale who just time after time and and
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John Heyman it was who just time after time just put their foot
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in their mouth. Was it was it worth it to
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speculate on something that you maybe thought was accurate, but
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turns out it wasn't to? Then I have to turn around and
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and walk it back for a detail that I mean, sure.
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Coincidentally. Yeah.
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OK, whoa, he's going to Toronto. There's rumors flying around
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that he's going to end up with the Blue Jays.
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Yeah, I'll give you that. But like, it was a flight.
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It's not like we saw him at an airport in Toronto.
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It's not like we saw him at a restaurant or walking out of
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some sort of we. We didn't see him walking out of
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a high rise in Toronto. It was a flight, and we didn't
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even know if it was him. Anyway, you had that.
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You had the the Kikuchi dinner saga.
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My goodness, what AI mean it's. Look, I'm not.
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I'm not sitting here trying to pretend like I wouldn't be.
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I wouldn't have my eyes glued. I wouldn't be refreshing Twitter
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every six seconds if I if these details started coming out.
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But hindsight, man. And I know it's always 2020, but
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hindsight, it's just so goofy when you really stop to think
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about it. Like we were spending our day
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tracking a private jet from ATV Show * and we were checking open
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table reservations to see if there was reservations open past
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530. Are we sick as baseball fans?
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And I include myself in that because if I was a Blue Jays
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fan, I might be doing the same thing.
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Are we sick? What is wrong with us?
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Why do we do this? We're sick in the head, man.
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This is wow. Yeah.
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And going back to the dinner thing you had Clare.
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It all I think started from a tweet from this this guy
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Clarence Frazier, who said you say Kikuchi reserves entire
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upscale sushi restaurant near the Rogers Center for tonight
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and this is on the 8th reservation made for 50 plus
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people. Make of it what you will.
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I mean, yeah, the more I talk about it, the more I'm like, OK,
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the the dots are starting to connect here.
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But to me, it's it's the report. It's the national reporter
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thing. Like, I don't know, offense.
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I don't know who this Clarence Frasier is.
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It's not John Morosi. In turn, maybe he's maybe he's
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big in his own thing. I don't even know if he's if
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he's a baseball guy. I saw something.
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He's like a he's like a singer. I don't know.
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I don't know who his Clarence Fraser guy is, but John Morosi,
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we got it. We got to do a little more
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digging, man, because you know that you're up against it with
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passing like, I I understand these guys, they won't.
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They may not admit it, but they're all up against like the
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passing boss. If if this was a video game,
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passing's the, the final level and I don't think they'll ever
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beat this video game. So knowing that, maybe tighten
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up your sources a little bit, maybe clean it up, especially
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with somebody that has a stature that Shohei Otani does.
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And then going back to it, the announcement finally comes out,
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only it turns out only Shohei this entire time new him and his
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people. And I say and his people, maybe
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his people didn't even know. Who knows, maybe maybe this was
28:24
just Shohei going rogue. Who knows?
28:31
And to repeat a 10 year, $700 million contract in AAV of 70
28:40
mil. He's not going to make 70 mil.
28:44
Just want to just want to make that clear because there's a lot
28:46
of people out there saying talk about handcuffing A-Team.
28:51
Well he's not talking about passing.
28:54
I think he actually put think he put AI may not have the exact
29:02
post. Oh yeah, OK it was either it was
29:08
I think it was part of a tweet he put out or maybe an article
29:11
that got sent out. But talking about the AV versus
29:14
deferrals says depending depending on the size and length
29:17
of the of the deferrals. Because it was, it was assumed
29:20
that this is going to be like majorly, majorly deferred and
29:26
without knowing the details yet as of this particular moment
29:30
because last I checked, we still don't know the final concrete
29:33
details. You can only assume that this is
29:36
going to be very, very much under the deferred umbrella
29:42
because otherwise I mean 70 million a year.
29:46
My goodness. But anyway, his tweet, he said.
29:51
Depending. Depending on the size and length
29:53
of the deferrals, Otani CBT number is likelier to wind up in
29:55
the 40 to $50 million a year range.
29:58
An enormous benefit for the daughters.
30:00
Did a little more digging around.
30:02
Turns out this was Shohei's idea.
30:04
Again, this is just going off of what these reporters say.
30:07
We don't really know. Maybe it wasn't Shohei's idea,
30:09
but I'd like to think it was giving the little we know about
30:15
him as a person that that's been made known to the the public
30:20
baseball world. Like we can assume that this guy
30:23
is looking out for the team that he's a part of, you know.
30:28
So given that, I don't want to talk, I don't want to talk about
30:32
the deferrals, I want to talk about some of the.
30:34
I want to talk about the AAV and I want to talk about the total
30:37
numbers, $700 million, by far the largest contract signed by
30:49
an MLB free agent, #1 shoheiotani obviously #2 Aaron
30:56
Judge at 360 million, #3 Bryce Harper at 330 million.
31:04
I'm not that great at math, but that's 690 million which is
31:11
short of Shoheiotani's contract, Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper
31:18
combined and Shohei still on top that.
31:26
I mean, I've seen so many of these, these Nuggets come out,
31:30
these putting the contract into perspective sort of posts.
31:36
And I mean you talk about two of the biggest names in baseball.
31:43
Say what you will about Aaron Judge, say what you will about
31:45
Bryce Harper, two of the biggest names in baseball, two of the
31:48
faces of this sport, and together with as wild as their
31:55
markets and Fiasco's were as closely as we were glued to
32:01
those stories together. Still short, Shohei Otani
32:08
surpassed former teammate Mike Trout's 12 year, 426 and a half,
32:12
$1,000,000 contract as the largest fully guaranteed
32:16
guaranteed deal in North American sports history.
32:20
Again, I did AI, did a quick Google search, and just for the
32:24
sake of reassurance, I'm going to do it again in case something
32:30
has populated in the last hour. Because I checked this shortly
32:35
before I flipped the mic on, and when I checked I couldn't find a
32:42
larger contract, largest sports contract ever.
32:48
Is that? Is that fair to say?
32:52
Can I? Can I go to Wikipedia?
32:55
Do we? Do we collectively trust that,
32:57
at least for this exercise, contract value, I'm ranking it
33:08
by Contract value? I'm not.
33:09
I'm not ranking it by AV. I'm not ranking it average per
33:15
game Slash event as it has here as an option, not not ranking it
33:20
based on length of contract Contract value in U.S. dollars.
33:26
As of right now, Lionel Messi is number one with $674 million,
33:35
albeit as a four year contract. We're still talking total
33:37
dollars here. I mean it hasn't.
33:45
I'm. I'm venturing.
33:47
I'm. I'm guessing that it hasn't been
33:49
updated because as I mentioned as of this very second we'll do
33:53
what we'll double check here. Go to Dodger's Twitter account.
34:01
Yep. Nothing but a good luck good
34:07
luck MLS Cup final posts and a happy birthday post.
34:13
Nothing about Shohei. So I'm guessing that's the only
34:17
reason has this hasn't been updated.
34:18
But that right there tells me that this would be the largest
34:24
contract in sports history. So there you have it.
34:33
I I saw, I I also saw this contract is worth more than the
34:38
Coyotes. The the NHL.
34:40
The Arizona Coyotes franchise Worth more than the franchise
34:48
and a name we already mentioned, LeBron James.
34:52
His on court career earnings, and I know it's separate from
34:56
his endorsements and all that, but this dude's been playing for
34:59
a minute and has made some he's made some quiche.
35:03
If we're being honest, his whole career, his whole career doesn't
35:13
even match Shohei's tenure contract.
35:21
Now looking at the AAV, the 70 million AAV eclipses Justin
35:29
Verlander and Max Scherzer at their $43.3 million mark.
35:35
And I know you all have heard this, but it's worth it It it's
35:38
worth repeating. The 70 million is more than the
35:42
2023 Opening day payrolls of the Baltimore Orioles, who were at
35:47
60.9 million in the Oakland A's at 56.9 million.
35:56
I got one better for you. 700 million Shahi Otani the last 10
36:04
years. The Oakland A's payroll
36:09
667,000,000. Their entire payroll for not
36:21
one, not 5-10. Ten seasons 10.
36:32
And look, going back to that, going back to that tweet, the
36:39
conversation about salary caps and salary floors starts and
36:44
stops with the fact, with the reality, with the truth that
36:52
baseball owners, baseball, anybody involved with the
36:58
financials, owners, ownership groups, so on and so forth.
37:06
I get it's a flex to own a sports franchise, I understand
37:10
that. But there has to be, there has
37:13
to be some level of dedication to the team.
37:20
And if you're only if you're only acquiring A franchise for a
37:27
proverbial notch on the bedpost for for your investments, for
37:34
your portfolio, get out of here. Get out of here.
37:40
The people that are talking about a salary cap in baseball,
37:46
do you not understand that in doing so, you're punishing the
37:53
teams, You're punishing the owners and the ownership groups
37:56
that actually care about baseball that are actually
37:59
interested in investing in the product that are actually
38:03
invested in making what you see on that diamond better actually
38:09
interested in pursuing a World Series title so that come
38:14
October, come November, you can be acquiring a plane ticket or a
38:21
bus ticket or a train ticket or taken to drive downtown to go to
38:28
a World Series parade. Why don't we start with a salary
38:34
floor? Why don't we start with a salary
38:39
floor and make it a requirement for these organizations?
38:43
These poverty. We thought we throw poverty
38:46
franchises, fans as not just baseball fans, sports fans.
38:49
We throw that around all the time.
38:51
Poverty franchise? No.
38:53
There's true poverty franchises in baseball.
38:56
There are true poverty franchises in baseball, and it
39:02
starts with them. We need to start having some
39:05
real, real tough conversations about what it is that they're
39:11
intending to do moving forward. Because say what you will, but
39:18
the Dodgers said, we like Shohei Otani.
39:21
They've been, look, we've been, we've been talking about this
39:24
for a a year or two now, as as have many other baseball
39:29
outlets. The Dodgers were moving quietly.
39:35
They were making moves. They were freeing up space.
39:37
They were freeing up money to make this happen for a number of
39:42
years now. And they still like, look, let's
39:48
be honest, they still for the last year or two they gave it,
39:54
they gave it a solid run for honestly a year or two where for
39:58
all intents and purposes you could say they kind of punted.
40:02
They're like, no, we're, we're positioning, we're posturing
40:05
ourselves to acquire this guy and they went out and said how
40:11
$700 million sound. Now, why?
40:15
Why? Please tell me, and I I've yet
40:18
to hear a great I've. I've yet to hear an acceptable
40:20
answer. Why would we look at a team like
40:23
the Dodgers and say that's not good for baseball?
40:28
Why don't we start looking at teams like the Oakland A's, the
40:33
Tampa Bay Rays, the Miami Marlins?
40:35
Teams like that that they they try to, they try to window shop,
40:43
they try to budget shop, that they try to get out of this
40:49
spending as little money. And I understand it's a
40:51
business, but we need to, like I said, we need to start looking
40:56
at teams like that and say, look, a floor is being
41:01
implemented and if you don't reach that, then get out of the
41:04
game. Like, get out of the sport,
41:06
looking at the owners, the ownership groups, if you're not
41:08
interested in acquiring the best talent and doing whatever it
41:12
takes to get it, I mean, what? What are you doing here?
41:17
Like, why? Why?
41:21
All that to say, though, although the Dodgers did acquire
41:27
baseball's best talent, it begs the question, is it enough?
41:36
And I know that sounds crazy, but need our mind.
41:39
You Shohei Otani will not be pitching for the Dodgers in
41:42
2024. And that's honestly, I mean,
41:47
it's no secret that's the that's the area where they need the
41:51
most help. I mean, we're looking right now
41:55
to rotation of Walker Bueller, Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepio, Ryan
42:00
Yarborough, Emmett Sheehan. Does that sound like a rotation
42:07
that can get you past the end of September?
42:16
Maybe, if you have a couple regular season games to start
42:19
October, like we usually do. But I mean, look, we say it time
42:26
and time again, and it it shows itself every October and even
42:31
into November. Now that we're we're dipping
42:33
into that month with the postseason, pitching matters.
42:38
You have to have pitching. And with this move, it doesn't
42:44
help you on that front. And sure, you can come out and
42:46
say that you're still interested in Yamamoto, but I think, I
42:52
think, if we're being honest, I think the, I think the PR team
42:57
over over Dodger Stadium is riding the high a little too
43:02
much. I think they're still a little,
43:04
they're still a little gassed up, a little fumed up, 'cause I
43:07
think if we're being honest, going out and getting Yamamoto
43:11
too. In addition to this, I don't
43:18
know you, you may have to look elsewhere.
43:21
You may have to dip into the the 2nd, 3rd tiers to at least
43:26
provide a little bit of depth in that rotation to get you get you
43:30
going a little bit, 'cause you know that offense is going to do
43:32
what it's going to do. I mean looking at the the the
43:35
lineup you're talk, you're looking at Mookie Betts, Shohei
43:39
Ohtani which is kind of wild like I I don't know much about
43:44
Shohei's best fit in terms of a spot in the lineup.
43:47
Like I haven't looked at the the numbers and at at that level,
43:52
but it just seems wild to me to have Shohei.
43:55
Has Shohei been a two guy in in LA?
44:01
Maran Heim. I feel like I should know that,
44:05
but that just. I don't know.
44:06
I figured they would have slaughtered them elsewhere.
44:09
But you got projected lineup. Mookie Betts 1.
44:12
Shohei Otani 2. Freddy Freeman three.
44:14
Will Smith for Max Muncie 5. James Outman 6.
44:18
Jason Hayward 7. Chris Taylor 8.
44:21
Gavin Lux nine. I mean, honestly, give me the
44:27
top four in that lineup and call it a day like I had.
44:32
Anything you get out of five through 9, that's a cherry on
44:39
top, man. I mean, my goodness that that
44:42
one through 4 can hang with anybody.
44:44
And I I saw a lot of comparisons or a lot of comps being made to
44:49
that line up in Atlanta. And yeah, I'll give it to him.
44:52
That's a that's a scary lineup. But I mean, what are we really?
45:00
What are we really talking about here?
45:02
Mookie Betts. Shohei Ohtani.
45:04
Freddy Freeman? Will Smith?
45:08
Like I said, that lineup's going to be deadly.
45:10
But it's you're going to. And it sounds crazy, man.
45:16
You made the splash of the offseason.
45:18
Los Angeles Dodgers. Congratulations, I tipped my
45:21
cap. I would imagine there was a
45:23
number of teams in the running for this guy, but you pulled it
45:26
off. Credit to you and again I know
45:30
it sounds crazy, but you you got to keep going like this isn't
45:35
this isn't going to cut it. That rotation imposes No Fear,
45:40
if we're being quite honest. Because Walker Bueller's coming
45:42
off still coming off the injury and we we just don't know.
45:50
Like, you just don't know what you're going to get from him in
45:52
2024. So of the names that are listed
45:55
there, that would be the one where you could maybe you could
45:57
maybe hang your hat on, but you don't even know what you're
46:00
going to get out of him. And he's your he's your one.
46:04
So what does that tell you about the rest of the rotation?
46:08
I I don't know. But you're going to need to go
46:11
out and get a little more because you you can't.
46:14
You you can't. You can't go into Opening day
46:17
with that. You got it.
46:18
You got to figure out a mid, a middle of the rotation option
46:23
maybe to probably to I would, I would say is what they're hoping
46:28
for because that just ain't it. But look man, I think the big,
46:38
the biggest part of this conversation comes down to the
46:43
question of is this worth it? And I think that's what we need
46:47
to wrap up our conversation with here.
46:52
Is a $700 million / 10 year contract worth it?
46:58
And the answer is yes. And if you say otherwise you're
47:05
looking at it through too narrow of a scope.
47:11
Because I have to. I have to point out, and I'll I
47:15
need to credit. Baseball doesn't exist.
47:17
Great account if you don't. If you don't follow him put out
47:21
a video on this very on this very matter.
47:25
Is it is he worth $700 million? Literally opens the video saying
47:34
that an economist estimated that Shohei Ohtani generated $337
47:41
million of revenue in a single year, A single year.
47:53
If you just look at this from a business perspective, this
47:57
contract is going to pay for itself and then some.
48:02
What are we really talking about here?
48:07
Well, honestly, all you. I mean, and I'm not, I'm no
48:10
business expert here, but you really just needed to be able to
48:16
front the money. And the Dodgers did that.
48:20
They can sit back now. They can let the jersey sales
48:23
roll in. They can let the insane.
48:25
I can't even imagine what those ticket prices are going to be.
48:29
You can let that revenue come in the merch.
48:35
The increased attention surrounding something like
48:41
spring training, where you know any given year it's going to be
48:46
a popular attraction, Go out and catch a catch some spring
48:49
training games that. But I tell you what that place
48:54
is going to be. If if I recall, that's the
48:57
camelback with a Dodgers rat. That's going to be the place to
49:02
be come February, come March. So that's something that we're
49:07
not even talking about. Something else I I saw in that
49:10
video that I honestly, prior to this year hadn't even hadn't
49:15
even registered on my radar is the Japanese advertising behind
49:21
home plate that like I said, never even clicked.
49:25
But when you do a deep, when you when you do a deep dive into how
49:29
much you're really getting from that and how much attention
49:33
you're not only getting from the fans of your own organization,
49:38
but from the fans of an entire country, possibly continent.
49:44
I don't know. I would imagine Shohei's
49:47
influence in Asia is greater than we could even fathom.
49:55
I don't think it's just Japan that we're looking at, if we're
49:58
being honest. So you take all of that, they're
50:01
just going to follow show, hey, wherever he goes.
50:04
And that attention and the money that comes from that in any
50:08
variety of ways comes with it. Not to mention what he does for
50:14
you on the field. OK.
50:18
We're not talking about some some oily salesman who just
50:23
finessed his way into this contract.
50:26
The guy backs it up and sure, we already know he's not pitching
50:31
in 2024, but if he does come back in 2025 at the earliest, if
50:37
he's their opening day starter, we don't know.
50:40
And he's able to string together a a handful of seasons over the
50:43
course of that contract where he's pitching as as well as he
50:46
is, we would hope and expect him to be.
50:52
I mean, this thing pays for itself and then some.
50:54
I I just don't understand how people don't see that.
50:57
I really don't. So for the people, again, for
51:00
the people asking is this worth it?
51:07
The answer is yes. It's Shohei Ohtani.
51:10
You can't sit there and say this is a Unicorn, this is a guy
51:15
we've never seen before and maybe we'll never see again and
51:21
then flip and say, but he's not worth $700 million, so you just
51:31
can't do that. So I I I genuinely, I genuinely
51:36
feel for the people who seemingly have flipped a switch
51:40
on Shohei, they're out on Shohei.
51:42
They're saying, you know, this guy's about himself, this guy's
51:46
all about the money. I'm not watching anymore.
51:49
I I see honestly something that I saw within the last 24 hours
51:54
that I feel like I haven't seen in a while simply because we
51:57
haven't seen a contract this large, I mean ever.
52:01
But like we we haven't had this conversation really since like
52:04
the judge, the judge deal. But I see the recirculated, you
52:10
know, well what about the first responders and the teachers and
52:13
look I look my dad was a firefighter for 3035 years.
52:20
I, on a very personal level, understand the value of first
52:25
responders and people in fields like that.
52:32
But I think even he would tell you that it's an it he that if
52:39
you look at the base, if you look at baseball, if you look at
52:42
sports, it's an entertainment industry.
52:45
It's a business. There's millions and billions of
52:49
dollars invested into this by people like me and you.
52:55
So the irony of us sitting here talk and I say us really, just
52:59
the people that complain about how much money he's making.
53:01
The irony of that is that we're feeding this beast, we're
53:05
feeding this machine that we want to sit there and complain
53:08
about. There's a reason that the
53:11
Dodgers can afford a guy like Shohei Otani at a clip of $700
53:16
million, and it's because the money is there.
53:24
And how is the money there from people like you and me who buy
53:29
the tickets, who buy the jerseys, who buy the food and
53:32
drink, who buy the merch, the TV sales, It's all there.
53:43
So say it again. I'll say it one last time.
53:47
This contract is worth it. Was it an overpay?
53:54
Who knows? Who knows what the other deals
53:56
were? Who are the other offers?
53:57
Were? Was the airplane saga?
54:05
Was the private jet saga elite a possible leak?
54:09
A play to drive up the price? The timing says possibly we
54:16
don't know. But at the end of the day,
54:21
knowing what this guy brings in, knowing what this guy makes,
54:25
knowing the value that this guy has for an organization, you'd
54:31
have to go a long way to find a number that I think you could
54:35
classify as too too much. Not worth it because it's Shohei
54:42
Ohtani folks that about does it. Appreciate you all listening.
54:52
We got some we got some things lined up here coming down the
55:00
pipe we're excited about. We got an interview still still
55:04
in the hopper. We're we're waiting to drop that
55:07
we got a we got a three O change up coming up so be sure to check
55:12
that one out and in the meantime if you haven't listened to any
55:15
of our three O change UPS feel free to go back and listen there
55:19
again as a recap or as a reminder their their bonus pods
55:21
where we talk about non baseball things you know when things are
55:25
slow whether it be the offseason or or what have you and so we've
55:29
we've done a number of those in the past on variety of things
55:32
Costco fast food board even board game stuff like that.
55:36
We literally just talk about anything and everything just as
55:40
a little bit of an outlet when again when things are slow but
55:43
anyway we've got another one one of those coming up so be sure to
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subscribe. Even if you don't want to watch
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it's really doesn't really do much for you.
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56:31
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56:34
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the subscribe button. Again, folks, thank you all for
56:43
for sticking with me. I know you're probably
56:46
wondering, well, how how can he sit there and talk to himself
56:49
for nearly an hour? Well, when it's a guy like
56:54
Shohei Otani, I'm starting to learn that a guy like that I
57:00
could talk about with myself for hours.
57:04
The more I learn about this guy, the more that I I see about him,
57:11
not just as a player but as a person.
57:13
I'm like, can I go back to like elementary school and do like
57:18
one of those classic book reports on like my favorite
57:23
baseball player, 'cause I tell you what, man, Shohei Ohtani is
57:26
quickly evolving into one of my favorites, and I'm sure he's
57:31
doing the same for you. So again, thank you all.
57:37
Thank you all for listening and we will see you guys soon.
57:44
Looking forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
57:46
Until next time, stay filthy.