Ohtani to Dodgers for an ungodly amount of money

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Just my opinion, but I think it was, yet another dog and pony show by the Cubs, and they never were serious to begin with.

What is the point of that?  No Cubs fans are going to be like "hey i'm just happy they tried!".  Maybe it helps with other big FAs to see the Cubs involved in these types of biddings, but not sure about that.

My guess is that the Cubs were extremely serious about this but had their limits and would not exceed them.  They went in expecting to be in the 10/$500m range everyone was talking about, but the bidding went beyond that and they decided they aren't comfortable going higher.   Ohtani was clearly at least considering the Cubs, but if we never met with them when the Dodgers and Blue Jays did, we probably got filtered out because we wouldn't reach the level the bidding was at.

[UMFan83]

Just now, 17 Seconds said:

bob says the cubs bowed out because 500 was too much

OK if that's the case, I withdraw my last post.  If they weren't willing to go up to $500m when everyone was expecting the cost to be at least that, they were never serious suitors to begin with.  Did they think that Ohtani would love playing with Seiya in Chicago so much that he'd take a discount or less years?  

[UMFan83]

Hey I'm sure there's another "one of the best and most unique players in baseball history" coming to FA again sometime soon.

[Stratos]

3 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

OK if that's the case, I withdraw my last post.  If they weren't willing to go up to $500m when everyone was expecting the cost to be at least that, they were never serious suitors to begin with.

Agree.

[Brian707]

3 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

 Did they think that Ohtani would love playing with Seiya in Chicago so much that he'd take a discount or less years?  

Knowing the RIcketts family, I bet they did

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

bob says the cubs bowed out because 500 was too much

I'll say this...that feels a bit awkward. The entire world kind of knew half a billion was where this thing was headed. I'm not sure how much I buy the Cubs being that blind. Or making it this far into the process being...that blind.

There have been some conflicting reports on how high the Cubs were willing to go, as well.

[Post Count Padder]

PTR never fails

[Jason Ross]

I'd love to know why they're out, then, if they are.

Edited December 5, 2023 by 1908_Cubs

[17 Seconds]

I'd take cerami over bob

 

[imb]

7 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Hey I'm sure there's another "one of the best and most unique players in baseball history" coming to FA again sometime soon.

Did you know in the last 15 years, only once has the world series winner also had the fWAR leader? (Betts/Red Sox 2018)

the cubs are going to be fine

[imb]

3 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I'd love to know why they're out, then, if they are.

Probably Ohtani realizes he just spent more than half a decade on a lost cause roster, watching Trout fade into injury obscurity without ever playing a meaningful game and said you know what, i dont want to waste my only big contract on a maybe

[UMFan83]

Edit: This is pointless if Boob's quote is wrong,but whatever, I like the PTR and "wont bend on principles" version of Jed schtick

 

Jed:  Shohei, we are really interested in signing you and are prepared to make a competitive offer.  I think you'll love playing at Wrigley Field.  

Ohtani:  OK great, I've already gotten multiple offers for over $500m so maybe we start there and see wher-

Jed: Let me cut to the chase.  We're willing to give you 7 years, $300m with club opt-outs after years 2, 4 and 5

Ohtani: Umm, no that's not going to work

Jed: What about we add free nights at Hotel Zachary for you and your friends? Not weekends or holidays though

Ohtani: Jed, are you really serious about this?

Jed: Have you seen our World Series trophy?  And we just hired Counsell! Best manager in baseball.

Ohtani: Look guys, it starts at 10/$500, are you going to make an offer in that range?

Jed *looks at Tom who shakes his head*:  No I think we're out

Ohtani: *sigh*  ok can you at least validate my parking pass?

Jed *looks at Tom who shakes his head*: .....no

Edited December 5, 2023 by UMFan83

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, imb said:

Did you know in the last 15 years, only once has the world series winner also had the fWAR leader? (Betts/Red Sox 2018)

the cubs are going to be fine

That's fine, I have to live with the Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks every day.  I just wanted the Cubs to give me some hot stove dopamine hits lol

[Jason Ross]

If you want some copium/hopium....maybe what Counsell said gives you some. 

[Rob]

I've never understood the whole in/out dynamic on the way these deals are reported.

Like, I get it if Ohtani just decides that under no circumstances does he want to play in Chicago. It's just too cold for him or whatever. If that's the case, I could understand how we'd be "out."

But if it's just a question of money, the Cubs could decide to buy their way back "in" on these discussions up until the moment he signs elsewhere. Jed could have a stiff drink at dinner tonight and bump our offer 10% and suddenly things would look very different, in all likelihood.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Rob

[CubbyBlue2008]

As someone who is friends with a lot of Dodgers fans who already hate Roberts, they will want his head if he costs them Ohtani.

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 minute ago, CubbyBlue2008 said:

As someone who is friends with a lot of Dodgers fans who already hate Roberts, they will want his head if he costs them Ohtani.

I assume the whole "no leak" requirement is overblown. If Ohtani knows where he wants to play, it would be silly to have that impacted by whether or not someone in that organization made an off hand comment.

[UMFan83]

1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I assume the whole "no leak" requirement is overblown. If Ohtani knows where he wants to play, it would be silly to have that impacted by whether or not someone in that organization made an off hand comment.

Same, especially this late in the process.  But hey if he is torn between 2 places with similar offers, you never know lol

[CubbyBlue2008]

11 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I assume the whole "no leak" requirement is overblown. If Ohtani knows where he wants to play, it would be silly to have that impacted by whether or not someone in that organization made an off hand comment.

Oh I agree. But if he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers, their fans will absolutely blame Roberts for it.

[gocubs218]

snip snap snip snap

[Bertz]

 

[Stratos]

13 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Except that's three roster spots versus one. It's not just Ohtani vs those 3. It's Ohtani + the roster spot + the roster spot, as well. Secondly, there's the revenue he brings in which clearly offsets it. Ohtani also represents a TORP in 2025. It's like another free agent.

Missing on Ohtani is a massive deal. That doesn't mean I'm blaming the Cubs necessarily here. But let's not undersell just how impressively good this man is.

He's ridiculously good, but will also get a ridiculously expensive contract.  We'll be paying for what he's worth just like everyone else in FA.

I don't expect much of the extra revenue he generates to go back into the Cubs, it'll go into Ricketts' pocket just like everything else.

What would an extra roster spot nab us? A late inning pinch runner or another loogy?  A platoon guy at some position?  

And there's zero guarantee his arm comes back 100%.

Fans want big stars but the only thing that matters is scoring more runs and preventing more runs, who that comes from is typically irrelevant.

 

[Jason Ross]

Maybe Jed is mad and is just going to mount up and win this horsefeathers.

[Bertz]

I do wonder if we're close to this finally being over.  All the entrants have had their meetings confirmed or mysterious absences from the winter meetings.  Those presumably included formal offers, so it should just be Ohtani weighing those offers and maybe some goal-line haggling, right?

[CubbyBlue2008]

2 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Maybe Jed is mad and is just going to mount up and win this horsefeathers.

He’s got the Dodgers on the ropes and smells blood.

Regardless, I feel a little better now about this. Still don’t think we get him, but it’s not doom and gloom anymore for me.