It’s such an incomprehensibly large number, it makes it really hard to form any coherent opinion about it. On one hand, I’m sure the Dodgers will have absolutely no problem recouping a good portion of it via ticket sales, merch sales, TV contracts, etc. But I honestly have no idea how to calculate how much of an increase in any of that they’d need. Seems like a lot, no?
On the other hand, it does offer a peek into how absurdly deep the pockets of the owners go for these big market teams.
As for teasing the Dodgers about it down the line, I’m sure many will. I think the Mets get a unfair shake on Bobby Bonilla Day, since so many other teams have structured similar deals, and the Bonilla signing was an unmitigated success.
Fun fact: Ken Griffey Jr. has the 4th highest salary on the 2024 Cincinnati Reds payroll.
The current state of MLB is a pyramid scheme and baseball fans are old. Will the younger generations keep it going? I doubt it. We’re approaching the tipping point in a sport where going to a single ballgame can set a family of four back a full weeks pay. It just sucks, and my team is among the worst offenders. None of this is the fault of Ohtani and his bonkers contract, of course. It’s just unsustainable.
I still have hope for the game, but I do worry you’re correct. In more optimistic news, did you see the season ticket promotion the Diamondbacks have? Season tickets for $299! Now, they’ll be upper level seats, but that’s a great deal if you live in the area ($3.60/ticket).
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Dodger Stadium is one of the bigger parks to hit in. That is, its dimensions can be detrimental to power hitters, as opposed to, say, the short porch in Yankee Stadium.
Right off, does anyone have a comparison between Dodger Stadium and Anaheim? What kind of statistical difference could we expect to see?
Here’s Baseball Savant’s park factors that average out 2021-2023. LAA’s park is only slightly more hitter-friendly than league average, and LAD’s is only slightly more pitcher-friendly. Dodger Stadium appears from those numbers to be extremely homer friendly, which certainly wasn’t the impression I had of it. I do believe that the pitcher-friendly reputation it’s earned is a result of its larger foul territory, which adds a significant number of outs that would land in the stands of other parks.
The article says Ohtani will be the richest athlete in U.S. sports history, but on a salary-per-year basis, wouldn’t he be the richest in the world as well? I believe even Messi was not being paid $70 million per year by Barcelona FC, back in the day.
(Although, at one point, al-Hilal offered Messi a 3-year, $1.6 billion contract that would blown everything out of the water)
To a degree they do. So many people in Toronto were convinced he was coming here.
My guess is that the Blue Jays are thrilled. From their POV, the fans believe the team was in it until the very end plus they don’t have to pay someone $50+ million a year.
Signing Bonilla was a mitigated success. The basis for the structured deal was that the Wilpons were going to make more money off the interest on the deferred money than they paid out in the long run. And they were making more money right up until Madoff got arrested.
I don’t pretend to understand caponomics. I’ve heard that the Ohtani deal is hughly structured in order to leave room on the payroll the next few years. Seems like kicking the problem down the road to me.
How was it a success? He played for the Mets for 3.5 years (including the strike-shortened season.) The Mets missed the playoffs each year he was there.
It opened their payroll to pay for Mike Hampton, who pitched pretty well in 2000 during their World Series run, and when Hampton left, they got 2 compensatory picks, one of which was David Wright.
Yea, it’s several levels removed from “Bonilla was amazing and earned every penny he’ll ever make and then some”, but much of baseball is a game of dominoes - and Mets fans are generally happy to have their team write that check every year.
If fans start dying off and are not being replaced, ticket prices will go down. The reason ticket prices are high is there’s lots of people willing to pay it. It’s a self-correcting problem.
That is possible but it’s also possible that the pitchers’ union figures out how to pitch to him and his hitting stats take a tumble. If I had to be which skill, pitching or hitting, will be the first to go I think pitching.