Jump to content
North Side Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Signs with the Angels

CaliforniaRaisin

By CaliforniaRaisin,
in Chicago Cubs Talk

 Share
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Chicago fans across the sports love to always flog how market doesn't matter, and time after time it clearly does. Doesn't matter how many times they get punched in the dick, that record keeps skipping.

 

If they could spend the money, yeah, it's arguably less of an issue. But with the guy basically having to take peanuts to start out with the Cubs, it ain't crazy to think he'd prefer to look at teams in bigger markets with good teams who can pay him more.

  • Replies 1.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

CubinNY MVP

CubinNY

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

You're inherently a bigger celebrity if you play for those teams, especially when they're good. If the Cubs could pay the money, fine, but you're asking him to settle for less when it comes to that and the scope of the market could end up in.

How are you measuring fame or level of celebrity? I would argue Star players from good Cubs teams are every bit as famous as Yankee or Dodger superstars.

 

The Cubs’ #1 issue has always been their lack of on field success.

Wrong.

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

How are you measuring fame or level of celebrity? I would argue Star players from good Cubs teams are every bit as famous as Yankee or Dodger superstars.

 

I don't agree with that at all. Hell, David Ross is arguably the most famous person from the WS team (COME AT ME, BROS).

 

Bottom line, if it's about fame/name recognition, nothing beats if you're perceived as a great player on a good Yankees team. That trounces the Dodgers, too.

So you’re measuring based on your perception?

 

Of course. I'm not some kind of David-like fame detecting robot; I'm just some dude with an opinion and a keyboard.

UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I have a really hard time believing a guy described like this

 

There are, so to speak, no two ways about it. The most compelling story in baseball is playing out in the city of Sapporo, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. The central character is a modest 22-year-old who lives in a drab team dorm and doesn’t drink alcohol or own a car.

 

Teammates say that when they invite Ohtani to social functions, he’ll ask if they plan on drinking. If the answer is yes, he’ll quietly head back to the dorm. No judgments either way. Says Laird, “It’s like he’s the team’s star and also the team’s little brother.

 

Is someone we should be so sure is choosing between New York, Chicago, and LA. There's a very good chance that this is a guy who would easily play in a third-tier city like San Diego or Milwaukee if they checked enough of his other boxes.

 

Perfect, KB and Ohtani can hang out and be sober together and then talk about how sober they were when they are sitting out next afternoon's game.

 

Then when Bryce comes they have a legit trio of sober bros.

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I promise you guys that no one is generally more famous because they play for the horsefeathering dodgers compared to the cubs

 

The Dodgers’ most popular players all played for the Brooklyn Dodgers outside of Koufax. They’re hacks. Their fans don’t give a horsefeathers, and not in the all in Raiders fans kind of way but a leave because they’re bored and there will be traffic kind of way. Also our Rizzo and Bryant are way better than their Rizzo and Bryant.

 

The most famous athlete on the planet for the past theee decades or so played for a Chicago sports franchise.

 

Yes, Michael Jordan certainly existed.

SpongeWorthy Iowa Cubs

SpongeWorthy

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Chicago fans across the sports love to always flog how market doesn't matter, and time after time it clearly does. Doesn't matter how many times they get punched in the dick, that record keeps skipping.

 

If they could spend the money, yeah, it's arguably less of an issue. But with the guy basically having to take peanuts to start out with the Cubs, it ain't crazy to think he'd prefer to look at teams in bigger markets with good teams who can pay him more.

 

ohtani is a distant 4th, at best, in new york behind judge, porzinigis, and the star of the Super Terrific Happy Hour

davell Chicago Cubs

davell

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

In all honesty, endorsements aren't going to be a huge factor. Baseball players just don't get that much.

 

Yes, he'd make slightly more in LA or NY thru that, but money doesn't truly seem to be his hot button.

 

We don't KNOW what his hot button is. We can all guess, based on history. But, its just guessing. What we KNOW though, is he was going to sign with the Dodgers out of HS.

 

So, unless we find out he hates how slow Pedro Baez pitches or they've done something else to anger him, those are the closest things to tea leaves that I can fathom trying to read from.

DonnieD College Ball

DonnieD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Maybe its just me, but I figure that Kershaw guy is fairly popular.

If Jersey sales can be used as an indicator, Kershaw is quite popular, though he trails both Bryant and Rizzo since the Cubs have become good. In 2017 Baez was also better selling than the 2nd place Dodger (Seager) and even Schwarber(!) was ahead of the 2nd place Yankee (Sanchez) and in 14th place in MLB. This is a year when the Dodgers were historically good and all three teams were in the playoffs.

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
The Yankees absolutely can win this with money. They don't have to do anything remotely shady to do so, so bringing up the Braves is just yet another bizarre tangent.
UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

As expected, Theo really wants this dude badly:

 

MLB sources have confirmed to me that the Cubs have spent significant time and money in their pursuit of Ohtani. The club has sent multiple scouts to Japan for weeks at a time and they have watched him pitch and play the outfield and they believe he can indeed do both on the north side of Chicago.

 

A rival NL executive who has scouted Ohtani believes the Cubs will be on the short list of teams that have a realistic chance of signing him:

 

“Theo has been fascinated by this kid for a long time," the executive said. "He and Jed have been strategizing on how to land him in Chicago. They have the support system needed to make this work. They landed Daisuke Matsuzaka when he was in Boston and they have a good relationship with Ohtani’s agent (Nez Balelo) at CAA.

 

"They are definitely one of the teams on his short list. But will he end up in the National League? That’s the big challenge.”

 

http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/shohei-ohtani-theo-epsteins-white-whale-japan-jed-hoyer-mlb

David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I will always have an irrationally (?) high level of faith in Theo's ability to do whatever the horsefeathers he wants.
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Man, if this kid actually turns out to be some kind of freak who really doesn't care about money at all, I won't know what to believe going forward.
David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Man, if this kid actually turns out to be some kind of freak who really doesn't care about money at all, I won't know what to believe going forward.

 

I mean, that's pretty much already established. The jump from the cap money to the penalty money is a pittance of a pittance compared to what he's already giving up (barring catastrophic injury). Like others have mentioned, given what he's going to be making, the majority of his money will probably come from endorsements anyway.

 

My worry isn't so much a money issue directly but that we can't just decide to offer more than other teams...but then again, that's probably not the worst thing on a player we'd definitely be competing with the Dodgers and Yankees on.

Cubswin11 All-Star

Cubswin11

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I will always have an irrationally (?) high level of faith in Theo's ability to do whatever the horsefeathers he wants.

Yeah that’s where I’m at. If Theo really wants this guy, which the article says, I have irrational faith. I think if we don’t get him Theo will view this as his first failure since running things (I think it’s a bit harsh given the constraints but seems like something he still be pissed about 10 years from now that he didn’t get it done).

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I get that he's left a ton on the table by coming over early, but that's still a pretty significant drop to go from what the Yankees can offer vs. the Cubs. I think it's safe to say that if he picks the Cubs then the guy really doesn't care much (relatively) about the money right now. Yeah, it's "only" passing on $3 million+...but it's to settle on $300k. Yowza.
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I think if we don’t get him Theo will view this as his first failure since running things

 

He probably did drink away the brain cells that remember Edwin Jackson.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
The North Side Baseball Caretaker Fund
The North Side Baseball Caretaker Fund

You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Cubs community on the internet. Included with caretaking is ad-free browsing of North Side Baseball.

Become a Caretaker

  • Member Statistics

    6,794
    Total Members
    13,056
    Most Online
    jbrown
    Newest Member
    jbrown
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...