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Originally Posted by Djeffery
I agree about the chance you take on him bouncing back, but I don't think this is a case of them putting all their eggs in one basket. I think it was a case of Rogers creating new eggs for him. I don't think they are going to still spend that amount of new money on several new additions. I think Ohtani represented a special opportunity at revenue generation that 60-70 million in other free agents or traded players wouldn't have brought.
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I believe it's true that there was definitely a different business case for Ohtani, including what the media frenzy and advertising revenue (from NA and Japan) would have brought to the Jays over the next several years, but the 'eggs' comment is based upon the fact that the winning bid was $700 million US, which works out to $70 million per year. In 2023, the Jays total payroll was $209,938,983 US (
Source), which means Ohtani would represent about 1/3 of the Jays entire player salary as it stood this year. Sure, they would probably add more eggs to the basket for this special opportunity, but it's not clear how many... plus, to outbid the Dodgers they would likely have had to pony up significantly more than $700 million (it has been widely surmised that Ohtani likes to live in California). So, what would have been left to support this new acquisition? It seems that the Angels had some good talent (including Mike Trout), but not quite enough, as they couldn't make anything near a splash (or even a ripple) this season. I get the feeling that Ohtani wants to experience the World Series thing, which probably factored into his decision (as well as money) to go to the Dodgers instead of the Jays.
That said, I won't pretend for a second that I know the entirety of the pluses and minuses of the business case involved, or how much Rogers valued his acquisition over 'regular' superstar players who only do a couple of jobs very well. I can just say that all along I wasn't overly excited about the Ohtani deal, except for perhaps today when it looked like it might happen... and then it didn't.
All I can say is that I hope it's not too late to get some needed talent. Rogers has invested a lot into the stadium, and they are hoping to get an All Star game, plus a World Series championship wouldn't be bad for them either...
While Ohtani deserves recognition for being a great hitter and a decent pitcher, I'm not sure that he is the game changer that the media makes him out to be. Some key acquisitions at lesser salary levels (in total) than the Ohtani deal could make all the difference for Toronto next season. Time will tell, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djeffery
The upside is at least we can go on hating Atkins and Shapiro now.
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