The World Baseball Classic (WBC) Japanese national team’s highest paid player this year is Shohei Otani (LA Angels).
Ohtani agreed to a 2023 contract extension for $30 million in early October, even before the end of last year’s season. The reason why the contract was signed at an unusual time was because the owner, Art Moreno, who decided to sell the Angels, needed the free agent to reveal his ‘will to hold Ohtani’ with one year remaining in order to increase the value of the club. Moreno scrapped plans to sell the club last month.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), the highest-paid player in Japanese professional baseball, has an annual salary of 650 million yen this year. When converted into Korean currency, Ohtani is about 39.12 billion won, and Yamamoto is 6.28 billion won. A world-class ‘two-time batting’ superstar receives an annual salary more than six times that of a NPB pitcher who won four gold medals for two consecutive years. Another major leaguer in the Japanese national team, Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres), this year’s annual salary is 25 million dollars 메이저사이트(approximately 32.6 billion won), 5 million dollars less than Ohtani.
However, Ohtani’s ransom will skyrocket at the end of this year. Because he becomes a free agent. Local media and experts predict Ohtani’s free agency ransom at over $500 million. It is natural to give the best treatment to the player who shows the best skills throughout the pitching, and the logic is that if ‘one person two roles’ is recognized, it should be given twice as much as the highest level player.
A person who has held a high-ranking position in a major league club draws attention by making the same argument. Former Miami Marlins President David Sampson. He served as president of the Marlins from 2002 to 2017, attracting public and private capital for the construction of Londipo Park, an open and closed dome stadium, and changing the name of the team to ‘Florida → Miami’. it’s a greeting Derek Jeter was fired in September 2017 when he took over as owner.
In an interview article published by Forbes, an economic magazine, on the 23rd (Korean time), Sampson said, “The important factor to consider when signing a contract with Ohtani is to decide whether to offer conditions, keeping in mind that he serves as both a pitcher and a hitter. It is,” he said.
In 2021, Ohtani became a unanimous MVP by creating a cartoon-like two-time double-up sensation, and last year, he wrote another history by simultaneously filling the required at-bats and required innings for the first time in history. Since he has risen to the top position as a pitcher and hitter, he emphasized that this should be reflected in the ransom calculation.
Sampson said, “You have to calculate the specific income by estimating the loss of sponsorship income that would occur if Ohtani is not captured and the size of the audience Ohtani attracts, and then look at the payroll. “He’s the first starter and he’s the center hitter. He’s doing two things on the team. Normally, giving 20% of the payroll to one player is problematic, and it’s hard to win. But Ohtani makes $25 million a year. He explained that 50 million dollars is reasonable because he is playing the role of two high-ranking players. $50 million out of 200 million payroll is 25%, which means it’s not too much for Ohtani.
He compared him to New York Mets one-two punch Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Scherzer and Verlander each earned an annual salary of $43.33 million this year, tied for first place in this category.
“If Scherzer and Verlander are valued at $43 million, then Ohtani is worth $50 million,” Sampson said. Is there any possibility of continuing the role of first starter and center hitter for nine years? It is possible. He is an incredible player that has not been seen in major league history.”
At the same time, Sampson also gave advice to the Angels club. He said, “Ohtani is an unprecedented existence, so he should receive that amount of money. If I were like him, I would contact Ohtani early. He knows where the Angels are and how much room for negotiations there is.” will test the free agency market. The Angels need to do well this year and make the playoffs. We need to convince Ohtani that they are a team that can win.”