Note: I've waited a considerable amount of time to give my opinions on this matter because I wanted every bit of information to be released. As a diehard Los Angeles Dodgers enthusiast, these last few weeks have been a roller-coaster of emotions, filled with nausea, exuberant enthusiasm, and everything else in between. But for this article, I'd like to put my obsessive fandom aside, and talk about Ohtani's record breaking deal from the perspective of a baseball connoisseur, and with no particular bias towards any organization.
Shohei Ohtani has made his decision. He has received the largest contract in North American sports history. His physical has been completed. His introductory press conference has concluded. He is officially a Los Angeles Dodger.
The drama began at the commencement of the 2023 Winter Meetings from December 3-6, a four day event where the front offices of all 30 MLB clubs dedicate their days and nights to talking with current free agents and discussing trades with other teams. Conducted at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, the Winter Meetings were eerily quiet on the significant trade and signing front, save for the blockbuster Juan Soto deal the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees executed on the final day. Soto, who is undoubtedly a top five hitter in the game and will likely command in excess of five hundred million dollars on the open market next winter, would've been the biggest name swirling around Tennessee had it not been for Japanese two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani was at the forefront of rumors, articles, and interviews throughout the week. Both MLB Network and the various writers and content creators who had made the trek out to Nashville heavily featured their content on Ohtani, despite the fact that the 2023 AL MVP winner was not going to decide on a team in the near future.
The only tidbit of actual new news on Ohtani that occurred during the winter meetings was when longtime Dodgers manager Dave Roberts publicly stated that "Yeah, we met with him [Ohtani]. I'd like to be honest, and so we met with Shohei, and we talked, and I think it went well. But at the end of the day, he's his own man and he's going to do what's best for himself, where he feels more comfortable." Roberts' seemingly harmless comments were viewed as appalling throughout media coverage for the next forty eight hours. Ohtani's camp and his agent Nez Balelo from CAA had reportedly stated they did not want any information regarding Ohtani's free agency process being leaked, and if something did become public, it would "be held against that team in the remainder of the negotiation process." Numerous analysts, fans, and writers jumped to the conclusion the comments Roberts had made could (or would) cost them a once-in-a-sport player in Ohtani, and Dodgers fans all over social media became outraged with Roberts' outbursts. Roberts made one public appearance following the scrutiny he received in Nashville, a brief interview on AM 570 with Dodgers reporter and Dodger talk host David Vassegh. Roberts justified his previous comments in the interview, but refrained from making any further thoughts on Ohtani.
For the next week, legitimate Ohtani news was non-existant. Although MLB analysts and insiders continued to provide updates on a potential timeline and destination for Shohei Ohtani, much of the news was speculation and personal predictions. The Blue Jays became more prominent in discussions, as many pointed out that the autonomy and controlled environment Toronto could offer would be unmatched by any other franchise. But again, nobody knew which team Ohtani would ultimately decide on, and his market remained at a standstill.
Everything came to a head on Friday, December 8th. Early in the morning, insider J.P Morosi appeared on MLB Network and reported that a Shohei Ohtani decision seemed "imminent." Morosi, who had previously claimed earlier in the week that an Ohtani decision was likely before the end of the upcoming weekend, only further increased the amount of hands refreshing Twitter/X with this latest report. For a couple of hours, Morosi's statement remained at the top of news feeds, until it was eclipsed by another tweet: That Shohei Ohtani had made his decision.
On Friday morning at 10:09 AM, baseball writer J.P Hoornstra released an article that essentially claimed that the Blue Jays had signed Shohei Ohtani to a record-breaking contract and that Toronto would be acquiring the two-time MVP. In retrospect, there were a couple of things strange about this announcement. For one, despite Hoornstra being a BBWAA (Baseball Writers' Association of America) accredited writer, someone of his status wouldn't be the one to typically announce a signing of this magnitude. It would be far more likely that ESPN's Jeff Passan or The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal would break the news. It would be even more likely that Ohtani himself would announce the decision, as he clearly seemed like the type of person who would want to break the news himself. Additionally, Hoornstra had been hired just days earlier by Dodgers Nation, a popular YouTube channel headlined by host Doug McKain. Dodgers Nation, which has eclipsed 70,000 subscribers on YouTube and also features a highly-read blog, is a great outlet for Dodgers content and information. I listen to their podcats quite frequently. But McKain or any of their writers do not have nearly enough credibility or information to break any major news, let alone the Ohtani signing. Sure enough, Hoornstra's report was shot down just mere minutes later when ESPN's Alden Gonzales tweeted that "Shohei Ohtani has not made a decision yet. That’s not to say it won’t ultimately be the Blue Jays; my understanding is that, at this point, that decision has not been made." His tweet was quickly backed up by other reporters, and the beat went on.
While Hoornstra's report was being refuted, an event of other significance was simaltaneously occuring; there was private plane flying from Anaheim to Toronto. Anaheim, was Ohtani's previous home with the Los Angeles Angels and with the Blue Jays being heavily rumored to be frontrunners for Shohei, it made sense that he could be flying to Canada. There were additional signs as well: Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi had booked a private reservation at a sushi restaurant in downtown Toronto for 50+ people, and Canadian hockey player Max Comtois posted a picture on Instagram with the caption, "LFG #BlueJays." An hour later, Morosi made another appearance on MLB Network and this time stated that Ohtani was flying from Los Angeles to Toronto. By this time, the private jet flying to Canada was the most tracked plane in the world, with thousands of hopelessly devoted fans (myself included) watching flightradar.com throughout the entire day. At this point, Ohtani's free agency had already risen to an absurd level of insanity. And it was about to get crazier.
A couple of hours after Morosi's report about the plane supposedly carrying Ohtani, USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweeted out, "Shohei Ohtani is not in Toronto. Ohtani is not on a flight to Toronto. Ohtani is at home in Southern California." The tweet garnered over fourteen million views, and the report was met with disbelief and shock. Nightengale had been notoriously critized for his inaccurate reporting such as jumping the gun on the Trevor Bauer signing in 2021 and his infamous tweet in 2015 saying the Cubs and Braves were swapping Javier Baez and Shelby Miller. When Nightengale's statement about Ohtani's whereabouts was seconded by other insiders, the baseball world was yet again left in the dark about what was really occurring and why these "trusted sources" had once more provided egregious misinformation.
For the rest of Friday and into Saturday morning, all was quiet throughout Major League Baseball. Then, on Saturday, December 9th at 12:05 PM, lightning struck. Shohei Ohtani himself posted on his Instagram a blurry logo of the Dodgers with this sentiment underneath: "To all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team." He went on to express his gratitude for the six years he spent in the Angels organization, pledged his dedication for the game and to always do what is best for the Dodgers and Major League Baseball as a whole, and promised it his all until the day he retires. Seconds later, the terms of the contract were reported: 10 years, $700 million dollars. With a record $70 million AAV (Annual Average Value) Ohtani's contract with the Dodgers was already revolutionary. But until Monday evening, we didn't know just how revolutionary.
Earlier on Saturday, ESPN's Jeff Passan posted that Ohtani's contract contained significant deferrals. It wasn't thought much about at the time, as deferrals had been frequently utilized throughout baseball history. The most iconic one is Bobby Bonilla's contract, an All-Star who the New York Mets signed in 1991 to a five year, 29 million dollar deal. However, the Mets and Bonilla opted to defer the money, and Bonilla has been recieving just over a million dollars each year since he inked the deal and will continue to be paid for the next dozen seasons. Bonilla is not the only example of a deferred deal; Rangers star pitcher Max Scherzer had half of his contract deferred when the signed a megadeal with the Washington Nationals, and Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has shown a particular aptitude for deferred money as well, delaying the payments on the deals of both outfielder Mookie Betts and first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Many thought Ohtani could defer ten million a year. Maybe twenty million. But when the Athletic's Fabian Ardaya released an article explaing how Shohei Ohtani is deferring $680 million of his $700 million dollar contract, the baseball community was not only confused, but enraged. The Dodgers, who already have every advantage in the world, (great television deal, geography, weather, money, superstars) are only going to have to pay the greatest talent in baseball history $2 million dollars a year for the next decade?!
This is where we are at the current day. Ohtani's introductory press conference has concluded, but I don't feel a pressing urge to cover that press conference in this article. If you'd like to watch it, it's about a half hour long and is located on MLB's YouTube Channel as well as the official YouTube channel of Los Angeles Dodgers.
I'm at the point where I'm now going to give my opinions on the whole process of the free agency. Let's start with what many in the MLB industry are calling, "Black Friday." In my opinion, that Friday last week was the epitome of what journalism has become. Too many people have prioritzed being first over being right. They have prioritized speed over accuracy. This doesn't just go for sports journalism; it goes for investigative, political, broadcast, buisness, etc. It is a travesty that in sports journalism, people will simply take a guess and attempt to claim the credit should they stumble upon the truth. Every reporter will make mistakes, I get it. But it's always easy to tell the difference between someone who made a mistake and someone who misreported information because they were trying to break a story. Both Morosi and Hoornstra apologized for the reports they made. I appreciate it. It's always appreciated when someone takes accountability. But here's what I'll say. Apology accepted, credibility gone. Bob Nightengale released a sentiment similar to what I have shared here in his Sunday notebook for USA Today, and he says that, "we need to be better as journalists." For Nightengale, he's been spot on in the last couple off-seasons and the baseball community needs to stop ridiculing him for past failures and start giving him the credit he deserves.
Here's what I'll say about the way Ohtani conducted his free agency process. I have no ill will against Shohei himself. I understand that he's a private person, and that he didn't want numbers and figures being leaked to the public. But holding leaks against teams is unfair. There are reporters that have jobs to do. They will dig and dig and dig until they strike gold. We had people out here tracking flights and theorizing what the name of Ohtani's dog was. (Many thought the name of the dog had something to do with his decision. His name was later revealed to be Decoy). Remember Kikuchi's restaurant reservation? It was a surprise party for his anniversary, and because of all the traction the reservation gained on social media, the surprise was ruined for his wife. Remember the plane heading to Toronto? It was carrying billionaire Robert Herjavec, renowned judge for the popular television show Shark Tank. When reporters found out about who was really on the plane, they spent time researching connections about Herjavec and Ohtani, and found out they were both represented by CAA. This report was later plastered all over Twitter on Friday night. It was yet another unwelcome distraction for baseball fans from the actual truth.
The last thing I'll talk about is the contract for Ohtani. While Shohei is technically being payed two million a year, it's not as simple as that. The CBT (competitive balance tax) hit is actually $46 million dollars, because only a part of the deferred money is exempt from the luxury tax. Ohtani will easily make more than forty million dollars in endorsements and advertisements, so it's not like he is pining for money. Ohtani will be paid six hundred and eight million from 2034-2043, but if he leaves California, he will not be subject to the outrageous state taxes. The money Ohtani will be paid from 2034-2043 will not count towards the CBT for the Dodgers.
As a Dodger fan, I love this. It gives us an additional twenty four million dollars (70-46) to play with each year to add to our team, and Ohtani has a stipulation in his contract that essentially forces the Dodgers to spend the saved money. They've already added to their roster this offseason following the addion of Ohtani, trading for Tampa Bay Rays All-Star starter Tyler Glasnow. But as a baseball fan, I certainly think that this is detrimental to the game. The MLB loves this contract, ok? Ohtani in a big-time market, more money being spent by big money teams, and higher ratings. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will probably be ecstatic about the Dodgers and the Yankees being in the World Series for the next decade because it gives the MLB more money. I mean, Ohtani's introductory press conference got more views than this past World Series! But for the overall health of the game, this is bad. The only teams that will be able to do this are the Dodgers and the Mets and the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Cubs. Teams like the Royals and the A's and the Marlins and the Pirates will never able to compete with the financial wherewithal of these big market clubs. As a Dodger fan, I can root against the San Diego Padres all I want, but you have to praise them for spending big. I don't have an issue with anyone spending. But to me, this deferral system feels like a loophole that the Dodgers have used to exploit the CBA. (Collective Bargaining Agreement.)
As a Dodger fan, I can't wait for this upcoming season. The big three of Betts, Freeman, and Ohtani will be incredible. We can talk about salary caps and journalism and deferrals but at the end of the day, we're here for one thing and one thing only: the great game of baseball. And with all the talent the Dodgers are going to have this year, I only have one thing left to say, "It's time for Dodger baseball!"
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