Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - SHOHEI OHTANI SIGNS $700 MILLION DEAL WITH LA DODGERS | 757

Episode Date: December 9, 2023

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And with that, we are live. It is talking baseball. It's not baseball today, but we're all one big happy company. We are John Boy Media. You know that, dude. He's always on whatever show we're talking about baseball, Trevor Plu, Jimmy, Jake. We think they might be calling it at some point. In the meantime, I'm Chris Rose with the biggest baseball news, perhaps ever.

Shohei Otani has inked a $700 million deal to stay in Southern California. he is making the drive up the five freeway, which should only take about seven and a half hours. So have plenty of time to count his money. He is signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 10 years and $700 million. All this coming about 24 hours after a failed report that had him linked to the Toronto Blue Jays. So Pluffy, with that, let's start with just the number itself. Were you blown away by it? Blown away, the 700 number was never out.

there. You know, people floated in the sixes. We're learning more about the contract. Again, this is live. We're learning new information as we go here. Sounds like a lot of it is deferred because Otani wants to keep them, you know, have, he wants to give them the ability to surround him with good players constantly. And I don't know what the end numbers are going to be per year with the Dodgers. How much is going to be deferred? But my goodness, that end number, 10 years for 700 million. Chris, I mean, I think you hit it out of the park with your tweet or your

ex. You said, it's Shohei on the field. He's worth a lot of money. But Show Hay, that's not what this is. This is Shohei the brand and the ability to capture a completely different marketplace. And people, this is why they want to put teams in London. They want to put teams

in Germany. They want to capture these new fan bases. Shohei brings in money that way through streaming rights. Showhay brings in money through ad dollars. Like he is, not many people have that ability,

Chris, but Shohei is definitely one of them. And now that I'm seeing this 700 number, I'm like, yeah, that's about right. That's about right.

It's freaky, dude, because the only way I thought he was going to be getting $700 million was if he was playing soccer, right? I mean,

that's the sort of stuff that's saved for Messi and Ronaldo. He beat Messi. He beat Messi. He beat Messi. He beat Messi. What was it? 25, $26 million or whatever it was.

But if you just think about this, this is 250 million more than the next greatest athlete in North American pro sports, and that's Patrick Mahomes. It's $274 million more than the next highest paid baseball player. And that's his former teammate Mike Trout. So the numbers are astronomical, especially when you consider we don't know what the pitching part of the equation is going to look like. and we're just talking about this through a baseball playing lens. We know that every year he could be up there for MVP type numbers inside the batters box.

He is not going to throw a single pitch for the Dodgers in 2024. And when he takes them out in 2025, he will have twice had Tommy John surgery. And it's not like there's a laundry list of guys who have been successful that way. It's, I'm just still wrapping my head around all of this. So what was Robert Hergevich, in on it the entire time. I actually had Olivia text his wife last time, but did you know that the whole baseball

world was watching you on the flight? And he played it up great. But this is, you know, we had a lot of talk about how his free agency was going to go. And from the get-co, we heard, you know, it's going to be secret. It's going to be teams aren't going to be leaking information. And if you do, it's going to be held against you. And I got to be

honest with you, I thought the strategy worked perfectly. We didn't here one number reported. Like, think about that. From everyone, for everyone that was complaining about it, this was a different type of free agency than we've ever seen. There was no leaks about numbers. There was none of the reporters putting stuff out there,

and they were mad about it, C. Rosie. They were getting mad because they didn't have stories. But it worked. I think, like, if there was, this was a regular free agency and they didn't approach it the way they did, I don't think he approaches this number. And I also don't think that he gets to announce it the way that he did.

So I don't know. I just, I haven't even thought about the baseball ass. I haven't even thought about Shohei putting on a Dodger uniform and what that means for this lineup and what this brings them to because I'm still wrapping my head around how he went about free agency, the numbers that are involved. And just the process in general, it was so unique. and for it to come to an end like this.

You're right. Yesterday, the entire baseball world thought he was a blue jet. They thought he was a whole baseball world. The whole sporting world stopped. I mean, on the day before week 14 in the NFL, the sporting world stopped, and we were all refreshing every 18 seconds because we wanted to see where this guy was landing.

Who was Kukuchi hosting a party for yesterday? What was going on? 50 people, that's a big party, bro. But think about the timing of all of that. one single jet out of John Wayne Airport going into Toronto. Cacucci lining it up, 50-seat reservation at a restaurant. Like it all was there and everyone thought he was a Blue J and then, boom, I'm sitting at North Valley Youth Baseball watching Teddy play getting dust blown all over me today.

You know, windy is out here. The Dodgers swoop in for 10 years 700. Oh my God. So on his Instagram, Shohei did release a statement saying to, all the fans and everybody involved in the baseball world. I apologize for taking so long to come to my decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team. He then goes on for the next three or four paragraphs thanking the angels,

telling the Dodger fans you're going to get every bit of me when he comes to this. And there are some things that cannot be conveyed in writing. So I would like to talk more about this again at a later press conference. Thank you very much. First thing we're all going to want to know is the name of the dog. I mean, let's be honest. That's where we're all headed with that. Let's start talking about what this means baseball-wise,

because we'll get to the business side in just a second. The Dodgers still, in my opinion, have massive holes when it comes to the starting rotation, in part because the guy they're paying $700 million to that he's not going to throw a pitch this year. So where do the Dodgers rank? Are they even better than the Arizona Diamondbacks? We did this the other day and I'd play this game again with you.

Are they better than the Arizona Diamondbacks right now? It's funny you're putting them on the spot. Yes, I think that they are. I think that there's something about constructing this lineup that offensively is going to be tough for any pitching staff to navigate. Now, will I say there are certain parts of the Diamondbacks team that are better than Dodgers. Yes, I will say that. Overall, I would say this puts them ahead just by sheer offensive threat ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Now, remember, like, they weren't exactly scoring runs all year long.

They had some guys have some nice seasons. I think this Dodgers lineup with Shohei, Mookie, and freaking Freddie, don't mean, people don't even mention Will Smith. Go check the numbers out on Will Smith. This lineup is going to be absolutely lethal. Pitching staff, yes. I mean, it's okay to say this is going to make the Dodgers better and probably puts them ahead of the dimebacks overall

and still saying they need some help, dude. Okay. Let's continue on. Are they better than the Philadelphia Phillies? Oh, man. Now, this is getting too on this spot right now. I mean, I got to think about the Phillies roster right now. It's the middle of December, bro.

Off the top of your head right now, knowing what you know, and we understand that the puzzles are not complete for this team, but this is fun. This is what people do. Just a yes or no. Are they better? Gosh, I mean, you know I love me some Phillies. Right?

No. Okay. Are they better than the Braves? Definitely not. No. Okay. This is amazing that they just signed the most talented player that's ever played this game and there may be

the third best team in the national league. Do the exercise now if he was pitching. He's not though. I can't do that exercise. It's an exercise Chris. You put me on this spot. I'm putting you on the spot. Are they better than the Phillies with Shoah in the rotation? Act like it's 2025.

All the pieces are the same though. And you're asking me to tell you what he's going to look like when he's healthy. Don't jump around, bro. Answer the question. Yes or no? Okay. I would say no, there's still one more pitcher short. That's what I would say.

That's what I would say. They're not going to put up 10 runs a game, but they're sure as hell going to be fun to watch. Let's remember this, though, about the Dodgers and the roster. There's some young guys in that rotation, but what have they done very, very well as an organization? They've turned young pitchers into really good pitchers. So, like, I fault a lot of guys for being young all the time.

And, you know, I want you to establish a track record. I think that's the right way to think about. things. I could take one look at Bobby Miller and tell you he's going to be a serviceable pitcher in the big leagues. I don't know if he's going to be an ace. I don't know if he's going to be a third or a four starter. I can't tell just yet, but he's got the stuff to be that. I think there's some guys there that are going to take the next step and maybe we're not giving them enough credit. I can say that. But I do believe that they're not done. I don't, they're not done. Because I want to see what the AAV is against the money for 2024. We still don't know that.

Unless it's out there, Bebs. No, every reporter is using the, quote, unprecedented deferrals. Because, and it was Otani's idea. They're making sure, so I'm sure this was passed along by the agency, that it was Otani's idea to mitigate the CBT and the cash flow for the Dodgers organization. So somewhere down the line, they're going to be paying Bobby Bonilla times a gazillion. This is what it would have, unprecedented, would it be 10. 10 years 35 while he's playing and 10 years 35 while he's not playing.

Is that unprecedented or am I fucking crazy right now? Hey, listen, BPD and I were discussing this before you jumped on here that we think it has to get his salary down somewhere into the low 40s in order for them to continue to do business. Now, we're speaking out of turn because I'm sure those numbers will eventually be out there and it will affect the way the Dodgers can continue to build. But you and I, I think, are on the same side of this. They have to add some stud pitchers, whether that's Dylan seized by a trade, or go out and get some guy, maybe not the top dude.

I'm not talking about Blake Snell on the market here, but I'm talking about a guy that they can sign for a couple of years that will do more than just eat innings. Because the way that this team is constructed right now, and we know that how crazy it can be in a short series, you need somebody you can give the baseball to. Jimmy just sent something to our chat. Ten years.

Oh, okay. He's guessing like we are. That's not. He's had 10 years, 25 mil, 20 years, 22 mil. Maybe people we don't know. We don't know. But they have to continue to go, go, go. Or else this does not make sense, right?

Freddie Freeman's in his mid-30s. Mookie Betz is now in his 30s. They're going to have to make some sort of. decision on Will Smith. Do we let him walk? Do we pay him money? Walker Bueller's going to be in the same situation as he now comes back for major arm surgery yet again. So there's a lot of balls that are being juggled in the air at this point with this organization. But there's no question it makes sense just from the business side of things. It's the first thing I tweeted about this because everybody that's kind of on the periphery of being a baseball fan is going to be like,

How can you pay one guy 70 million a year? First of all, it's not going to be 70 million as far as the CBT goes. The other thing is the Dodgers are going to set an attendance record. They did it in 2019. It was $3.974 million went through the turnstiles. They're going to get over $4 million. I don't know what it's going to mean for their TV revenue out here. They're going to be on every time they can be on national TV.

Every time they sell a Dodger jersey, it's going to be Otani. And you've lived out here your entire life. I've lived out here half of my life. In terms of the Japanese population in the city of Los Angeles, it's immense. You're talking about opening doors. I mean, we all saw what it meant when Hodeo Nomo was pitching here. Now think of what it's going to be like for an everyday ball player. Oh, by the way, that also can hurl in 2025.

I remember Hadeo Nomo Knights. sell different food at the ballpark. It was awesome, dude, and it's going to be like that. Remember, I keep having to, you know, sell people. Like, they, there's different rights, broadcasting rights for international players or, or cities or countries, whatever. I don't even know what I'm trying to say right now. I'm just, I'm excited for the sport, man.

I am. And I know, like, people don't want to hear it sometimes, but, like, it's good to have your superstars in. like at LA market with show hey I think that's really good for baseball I do man and you might say it's not good for my team and I get that but

it is good for baseball well the growth of baseball I'll say that we still have a lot to cover here and let's start with yesterday the report by John Paul Morosi which he then retracted and apologized for had us all as I said checking our social media because we thought he was going to be a Blue Jay

within minutes. That did not happen. If you're a Blue Jays fan, what the hell are you thinking today? I feel like you probably think to yourself it never was true or like too good to be true. That's what I, a lot of Blue Jays fans hit me up on my Twitter yesterday and we're talking like that. You know, like a week ago, oh, we're talking to Shohay, cool. And then two days ago, oh my gosh, like we're talking talking to show hey yesterday we're going to get show hey and then today you know the bombshell comes i just feel like maybe it was never true to them it's it felt like a dream because it was and i'm not saying they weren't heavily engaged in the conversations but because by all of the small reports that we did get they were heavily involved in the conversation

and you know they do have people talk about the dodgers and how much money they have that's a publicly traded company up there that owns that team they got a lot of money So I'm sure that they were in it. But at the end of the day, I mean, it's hard to beat L.A. Once you're here, for a guy like Shohei, you know, appeasing to the Japanese audience, like the geography makes sense, you know, he apparently loved his time here. And he's going to be here this whole career. People north of the border are not going to like to hear what I'm about to say, but it's the truth.

Oh, no, oh no. Major League Baseball was shit in a brink. yesterday. If anybody in the league office really thought that he was going north of the border, it was going to be a problem for the sport. You got to hear me out on this. I want to hear this out, because I don't know if I agree with that. Part of the problem is that the Blue Jays, when they're on TV here in this country, it doesn't count. It does not count as part of the equation when you're talking about television ratings. And I know that that might not be exactly where we had. but it is still part of the equation in terms of revenue and keeping Fox involved and ESPN and things

of that nature. Now, Shohei is different because I think he does draw so many eyeballs to the screen, but it's different when he's with a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers as opposed to the Toronto Blue Jays. I know people, I love watching the Blue Jays. I think they're a fun young team. I think he could have pushed them maybe over the top, but that is just part of it. And the league office, you would never hear that out of the league office, but it's exactly what they would say behind closed doors.

Exactly. When I did envision him in a Blue Jays uniform in that beautiful renovated park, it looks like a brand new park inside, it was, I was like, I get it. I can see Shohei wanting to be in a temperature controlled environment. Hey, my whole career, I can play, I can do that. And you don't have to run on turf. He doesn't worry about that. He's D-Hing and pitching.

That's all dirt there. They have a dirt infield, right? I think. If I remember correctly, I don't know, there's a lot of things to like about the city of Toronto, man. And I liked it.

I don't know. I think obviously for, you know, the overall growth of the sport, yes, it's better that he's in L.A., but I don't know if they were shaking in their head saying,

oh, Toronto's that bad. We're trying to get international here, Rosie. I know, but it's not, there's certain areas where it doesn't help. There's certain areas, I'm telling you. Okay. I've been in on some of those meetings. I know it. Haven't times changed? We've got the internet now.

Yes. And the streaming rights, who knows exactly where all this is headed with so many teams in dire straits because they have to cut payroll because they don't know where their local television rights are. The Dodgers are on a different deal. That's not their deal here. They're not associated with Valley at this point. So that that's obviously not affected with them. Let's go to another team. The Angels. I have been on this train for well over a year. How many times did I say it was in their best interest to trade show Hey Otani? A lot.

A lot. I'll give that to you. So now it's official. And I'm not, I don't want to sit here and be like, see, I was right. Because that's not fair. These people are, it must suck today. If you're an Angels fan and now it's finally come to. fruition that he's no longer part of the LA Angels.

Are you had a difference of opinion on this? Yeah, you and I did. If you have a question, ask it, but I, I, go ahead. What do you have? I thought that I was happy when they kept them. They were still in the race at the time, making a run for it. And I said, you know, every once in a while, you got to go give your fans something. If you're already Moreno and there's been, you know, some things around your franchise

that make it stink a little bit, you know, not. being one of them and you're all of a sudden have a chance to make the playoffs with these two superstars like sometimes you got to take a chance on something like that and who knows what the package would have been and guess what man you could have got back guys you thought were going to be going to save your franchise and they won't be anything so there's a chance of that happening I think in the end angels fans are going to feel the same no matter what like unless somebody comes and it's just an absolute stud and we find a Fernando Tati's junior in that package that whoever gave up,

I think you feel the same way as an Angels fan. Like, dang, man. Like, we had Mike Trout and Shohei on our team together. And when we think back about that, when they're both done playing baseball and they're both elected

in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, we're going to be like, holy, how did that not work? So I think they feel, they feel sad about it regardless. if they got any prospects or not. But I think I'll stand on that hill that they did the right thing there. Okay.

I never thought it was because I thought handpicking prospects. You're all business, bro. Not always business. Have a heart a little bit, see Rosie. Have a heart. I know, because at the end of the day, they could say, hey, guys, we tried. We gave it one last push. We even traded for dudes that we thought could help us.

And it just didn't work out in the end. And that's an easier sell to your fan base than, hey, we're looking. for down the road that we wanted to get five or six pieces for Shohay Otani and hope that they could help us somewhere down the line. I understand it. Yes, go ahead, caller. I'm going to ask you a C. Rose question. I want to you right now. I got to get this in. I just thought about it. I just got to throw it out there to you, okay? Yep. Ten years of Shohayotani. And Freddie and Mookie are around for, I don't even know, seven more? Something like that. Well, Freddy's way less. He signed, I think, a six-year deal, and he's two years in. Okay. Okay.

let's just go with show hey there's 10 years how many world series do the dodgers need to win for you to say this was worth it let me start off by saying i think part of the reason they did the money the way they did is because some people will not give them credit for 2020 that they'll say it was a freaking 60 game season that doesn't count no no hey do you probably don't remember this but the first time the spurs won an NBA championship was during the shortened NBA season because of the work stoppage. I think it was 99. Bill Jackson used to needle Greg Popovich and say, yeah, but that one's not real. I mean, he used to say it out loud all the time, dude.

So you better believe that there are fan bases that don't think the Dodgers, you know, hoisted a real championship banner. So let's start with that. That I think. I don't understand that at all because at the time, that was the most. teams ever in the playoffs. They had the hardest route ever in the playoffs. They had to win more games than any other team in the playoffs. I'm telling you what I think some people are saying that. I'm not saying that's my belief. They do say that. I see it. I see it. I mean,

all the fan bases say, yeah. So that's part of the reason they did this. Now to answer your question, they have got to win a World Series or this is, it's great to make a lot of money. And I, what did I tweet out that maybe 700 million to show hey just the baseball player I have a hard time wrapping my head around that but show hey the baseball player plus the business makes perfect sense but at the end of the day you're judged not on how much money you make as an organization it's how many of them damn rings you got right it is you answered the question though they've got I said they've got to win at least one at least one yes because one's your answer sir? Yes, totally. At least one is good enough. At least one. I never ever say that a team needs to win a World Series for a contract to be worth it. I never say that. And you know, honestly, like monetarily, they probably don't have to win a World Series for this deal to be worth it. We can go over all the reasons why Showhead. Let me tell you this, people, these are smart organizations worth a lot of money. If they're willing to give out money, it's because they know they're going to get a return.

Okay. I'm going to say that right now. Remember that. Even 700 mil. Whether that's their plan to sell the team in five years. I don't know. I think they need to win one too, Chris. I do. I think they might need to win two. I really do. I think there is some pressure on the city of Los Angeles, especially the Dodgers, to win a World Series. I mean, dude, we are, Southern California is baseball down here. It's baseball down here. This is our sport. Oh my goodness. We, we, we, we, we, let one of our amazing followers they're joining into the Zoom.

Live caller. There he is. The boss. Where are you calling from? Hello? It's taken Jimmy a little bit of time. We just saw Jimmy's crotch on the screen. So you're welcome. Everybody, we're live. He's connecting to audio. Glance.

Look at this. Connected. James, can you hear us? I can hear you. Yes. Hi, Jimmy. Hello. Thank you for joining.

I'm trying to find it so I can see Treb's beautiful face two. Oh, there you are. Got everyone now. Yeah. Okay. Hands on 10 and 2 while you're driving. No, I'm in driveway, passenger seat now. We got a Christmas tree.

I had some funnel cake. I ate one bite too many. So I'm sick now. So who really won the day, Shohay or Jimmy? That's what I want to know. Funnel cake and a Christmas tree. how much did your guy Hershevac cost the Dodgers

I said that is he was he in play this whole time and Drake too wearing that freaking jersey and the herge just a couple hidden hills guys really playing a part

in this free agency the Blue Jays had to be like ah shit we didn't get him whoa what okay our 400 was a little embarrassing Jimmy. Jimmy, this is the discussion we've had, and you run a business.

Don't you think Shohei, the baseball player, plus the business, is worth $700 million? Well, I think they don't give a shit about the deferred money. They'll just sell the team if it's a problem. Wait, excuse me? Sell the team if it's a problem. Get out of it. I unprecedented deferred money to me means that goes for a little bit and eventually that's someone else's problem if you need it to be. We've seen that happen in this sport before.

We're talking about the Marlins and Loria, but I'm curious. I don't know, man. Here's why. And maybe this is part of your reason. LA is about to become like the epicenter of sports. We have like, well, I'm just saying we have an Olympics coming. But either you can afford it and you. don't care or it's that deferred and you have like okay whatever not our problem

hey our business comes with pay and otani 20 million until he's 60 years old whatever whatever yeah you guys discussed what this does for jd martinez market um yeah somehow we haven't gotten to that one i think that i mean he might he might be getting he's going to give you probably 80% of what show it of what uh show is going to give you as a DH for a year. So JD's one year 50 mil. Yeah. Yeah.

I love that. I'll pass on the one year 50 million for that. I think this is insane. I like it, I guess. I think it's funny that it went that high. I don't think anyone was ever competing with the Dodgers. I've been saying that for two years now.

But nuts. I mean, Tommy John, some guys don't get, back to where they are. Every other pitcher that has had Tommy John gets a one year or a two year contract to see what they're like before they get their deal. So that's nuts. Yeah, except that it's a second too, by the way.

Yeah, it's a second one. Right. It's, it's, um, right, it's a second one. So Jimmy, do you think one thing we haven't asked yet, do you think that this is good or bad for baseball because $70 million dollars per year, though that's not going to be the AAB, we know that. But if you just do the math here, is more than several teams payroll currently stands. Great for baseball.

Spend money. Get stars in big markets. Show that you can make money while, you know, playing and winning. It's crazy, but we want that floor to be raised. We want people to buy teams and spend money. And if this is what you got to do to get competitive, sure. I think it helps the big market teams and the stark power and for people that don't follow baseball at all and want to just like, you know, be on the outside, be in like, no one watches that anymore or, oh, that sport's dying. Baseball, who cares?

Oh, you're wrong. Look at the money. Like, the last couple of years have silenced those people a lot. So either, you know, watch it and enjoy it or don't watch it and butt out. But you can't tell us it's a dying sport anymore. You can't say no one watches it and there's no like value that it's bringing because look at the money. It's insane.

I will say this. Say it's 20 million deferred, right? The way that inflation has been over the last 20 years or whatever, 20 million could be nothing to what a payroll will be down the line. Like think about Mark Kube.

My friend Robbie brought this up to me, so shout out Rob. He's a listener. Mark Kuland bought the Mavericks what, 20 years ago for 250. million and he sold it for three point something billion dollars like the way money it's got we look back we look at bobby bonilla's shout out bobby bonia just hung out with him by the way uh we look at his one point whatever million dollars we're like oh that's hilarious like that's good for him it's a million and a half dollars back in the day people were probably like shit they got to pay him a million and a half dollars per year now we don't even think about it that's why people don't want deferred money

because you know that 20 million dollars might not be worth it means not going to be worth $20 million unless there's some sort of interest rate accrued to it. And I'm not sure there is. We don't have all the details. But if it is just strictly deferred money, no interest rate put on to it, who cares? Like, I have a cool. Babes, we were talking about this the other day. Isn't the AavV? Isn't that what the luxury tax based off of? Yeah, luxury tax is based on AV. So how did the deferments change that? That is my question, because with the new CBCB. I know just a lot of those rules did change and I haven't,

I guess we're about to learn with all that facts. Yeah, we need to dig, or to dive deep into that. Because I think there's some signing bonus stuff where that doesn't account for. Yes, that's,

that's, was the workaround before the CBA was you would get signing bonus and that wouldn't hit and you would get the buyout. You know, like Gardner would get a million dollar signing bonus and then he would get a $2 million dollar buyout.

out a team option. And then that $3 million didn't count towards the AAB. But they changed it. So I don't know how, I mean, obviously there's a way that deferments don't mess with luxury tax, but I don't really get how if it's based off AAV and the AAV is 70 mil. I'm going to lead this discussion a little bit. So sorry to see you. Jimmy, this one's for you, bro.

This one's for you. You're a guy that likes clean things, things to make sense, planning all this stuff. We talked yesterday, December 8th was his day. This is when he announced he was coming to the angels. This is a lucky day in the Japanese culture. How mad are you that he just waited one extra day? Like, that kind of seems silly. Like, they should just announce it yesterday. Well, how much? Or do you really think, do you really think Hergevac got him an extra 50 million bucks or something? I don't think it's crazy to think that. Um, you know, I, show me the documentary 10 years or five years from now,

or they kind of make him quick now about, you know, the Hergebeck fight and if it affected it at all. Because it definitely did, in my opinion, because he wanted to break the news himself. And that got real loud yesterday. And the sentiment by some, not me, because I thought it was really fun and had a blast all day yesterday. I don't, and didn't take it that serious, but enjoyed it.

But I think some were like, this is ridiculous. We've got to end this. And, you know, that voice usually comes from the people higher up in MLB, where it was like, yo, if you know, go or it got more money. I think it was pretty loud to then just like sneak it out today. I think, you know, might have had to do with each other. Is there any way that this deal is not good for the L.A. Dodgers? If they go world seriless, seriesless in the next decade,

does that mean this is a failure or because he's going to end up bringing so much money in? It doesn't matter. Or if he fucking snaps his UCL again, two years. Yeah, that's the only way this doesn't work is if Shohei is a complete and utter, like, can't stay healthy or just doesn't put up numbers like he's put up. And he, I mean, it's hard for me to see this going bad with. without an injury, and I do not want to put that out there anywhere. I don't believe it's going to happen.

I, when I look ahead into my crystal ball that I don't have, I just have my Mova Globe back there, I look at this and I said, this is a winner. Like, how could you not right now? Maybe I'm just so happy and just excited for the sport that I'm optimistic, but I can't. As a business, they probably recoup, like, and they probably know this calculation,

20% of it in the first, in these next two weeks. just partnership but seriously just partnerships um sweet deals jersey deals you know like ads that come in they probably recoup like 200 million dollars of business in the next month just off of this 10 years sponsors you know japan saporo beer sponsored the yankees through matsui through tanaka and they haven't been around since you know and then the yankees got uh they got Corota in between. And that's why Yankee fans were like,

they get a lot of money from these Japanese advertisers when Tanakalops. Like I think they're going to go get someone and they have it. Now they're trying to get Yamamoto. Like the Yankees know this game. There's a lot of money in those Japanese advertisers.

So I would guess they know the calculation on the business side of how much they are going to recoup. And like, you know, and then it will be slow after that. But there'll be a little waterfall right away. The other side of this that we frequently talk about were guys go to a new team and they strictly, fans only look at them as dollars and cents, right?

Albert Pooholz is the greatest example of that. Three-time MVP, two-time World Series champ in St. Louis. He goes out to Anaheim and everybody's like, we got three playoff games out of him. So now for the first time in his career, like, Shohei was never the problem in Anaheim. Never the problem. But if the Dodgers continue to win division titles, but don't put up World Series banners, people are going to look at him,

including some Dodger fans and say, what the hell did we do this for? Do you think they'll be that hard on him? Like I know if he comes to New York for this money, he gets booed before, you know, if he doesn't hit a home run and Stan hit two home runs in his first game, but then it wasn't enough for the, and I don't condone it, they're dickheads,

but that's the sentiment of like, you know, hey, do something. You got that money. But I don't think that's the vibe with him. He's everyone's darling. He is. He's really popular. Who else's numbers also dropped so far

when he was with the Angels that like, if something like that happens with Shohei and he can't pitch, then yeah, like go look at the same way. Right? I mean, maybe the Dodgers business wise, they won't look at it because like you're saying, like he's worth a lot more than. just on the field, but the fans don't care about that.

They care about the product on the field. And if he does put up numbers like pools, then yeah, we'll look back at this and be like, oh, what the, what the heck? I don't see that happen. Five years from now, what do you put the percentage at that Shohei is the one or two in the starting rotation and the DH batting, you know, second, third or fourth? I think pretty high. I think pretty high.

five years i'm worried about the pitching i am i'm worried about it you know uh jordan zimmerman is a guy i think who came back from two tommy johns right and in detroit when he got that nine figure deal he wasn't great there have been guys who have come back from it and we hear that the guy is just a physical freak right that he's all he does is spend time in the gym and working on his body and working on his craft. So as baseball fans, I understand it. Like if you don't want to root for him if you're a Giants fan or a Braves fan or Diamond or Padre, I get all that.

But if you're anybody else that has an allegiance, whether it's to Cleveland, the Yankees, Detroit, Texas, root for this to go well. Yeah. I got a question for you guys. I put that at like 80%. But if you go seven years, it drops significantly for me. Sure. makes sense.

Maybe John Smolts it at the end of his career. He could. I'm also wondering if, like, at some point, he's just an everyday position player hitter, not clogging the DH. And then we'll see what the AAV is, and we'll see if it's worth it. Probably will be at the time.

I just love everything about it. I have a question for you guys, though. 10 years, $700 million after people found out he had another Tommy John, he heard his oblique at the end of the year. He wobbled into this free agency. I know he had good numbers before and he's, you know, like, crushed it, but like he was not healthy whatsoever going into this free agency. What would he have gotten if he was healthy?

Do you think it changed at all? Like, did he leave? Do you think he left? Think about it. Do you think he left $100 million on the table? No, I think heard you out. You don't think so? You don't think so?

No, I don't. You've asked me and I don't think so. Dude, at the beginning of the discussion before Jimmy hopped on, I said, what did you think of the number? Neither of us can believe it started with a seven. Two years ago, we were like, oh, it might start with a four. And then it went to a five. You can't convince me, though. You can't convince me that this guy walked in, finished the season strong, clean bill of health into free to free agency.

He wouldn't have got more than this. How could the Dodgers have been planning this for two years. I didn't care. I just think it's crazy to think about the fact that he might have left money on the table. We got 10 years of 700. I don't think he did. I think Soto's getting on a mound right now. That's funny.

Are you a little pissed off that the Dodgers won up to you 248 hours later? No, I'm glad it happened. The Blue Jays would have excited me because it just would have been, you know what? The 700 did the 700. did the same thing, not the same thing, but what the Blue Jays would have done. Because I've been saying this whole time,

if it was Dodgers and 500, I was just going to be like, yep, like, yeah, that's what we all thought for two years now, at least me, and I just never thought anything else. But when it said 700, I was like, holy shit.

So I got my wow factor and like my juices flowing factor from the 700. I am, I mean, anyone that's listen to talking baseball I love funky contracts so I am like this is going to be funky

big eyes for these deferments and how this works I just I just like the creativeness in which teams get it done it seems like it's not that creative but just unprecedented that's what they like you know just backloaded

do you think this is like this isn't like other deals where a precedent has been set now I think this is like a its own thing it's like someone in the chat was like oh so it is going to get paid now because of it, I don't think his market is correlated

whatsoever to Otis market because you can't sell it the same. You can't say, hey, we got a whole entire nation of people ready to stream his games. They don't, that's not... Yeah, but I still think so doesn't he at 500. But yeah, I don't, you know. Exactly. Yeah, okay.

Just start with the baseball player aspect. He doesn't do both things. Most people doesn't, they think he just hits. So... Rising tide raises all ships, though. That's what they say in business. I think we're probably pretty much done with this because I want to have Jimmy decorate the tree. But I will leave you with this thought.

Tomorrow I put on my NFL hat and I spend all day watching football and doing football shows. I can't tell you how many people that don't watch baseball on a regular basis, I'm going to keep count of people who ask me about the contract tomorrow. That's how unprecedented this is. And I think it's great for this sport. before we go, let's do an exercise. Let's do an exercise all together. Bebers, you're included in this.

Let's do our face when we found out that he got 10 years, 700 million. Okay? On three. One, two, three. There you go. There's your meme for the day. All right. Thank you, everyone for tuning in.

Rose, thanks for hopping on. Jake misses another huge job. I love it. It's crazy. It's crazy to go on a honeymoon ever again. It's almost nuts. He has now been on vacation when Bauer signed with the Dodgers. That was a huge one.

When Tatis got popped for steroids, when Soto got traded the Yankees and when Otani signed with the Dodgers. Howdy boy, Jake. He was away for Gallo to the Yankees, too. That's the Yankee specific one, but he missed that. I've forgotten about that. I wish I could. All right.

Thanks, thank you everybody in the chat for putting up with me today on this. We'll be back Monday on baseball today. I'm sure you guys will be back Monday on talking baseball as well. BPD, great job. Jimmy enjoyed decorating the tree. Yamamoto to the Yanks. Oh, boy, he's putting it out. Shout out Danny Lehman.

Shout out Danny Lehman. Shout out Danny. All right, everybody. Enjoy Otani for the next 10 years and 700 mil. See you. Yes, this episode and every episode is brought to you by Seek. They have every app and the best app in the world. Jake uses it all the time.

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