Ohtani Watch: Dodgers sign - 700M over 10yrs

[South Side Hit Men]

25 minutes ago, Texsox said:

I believe he pays taxes in each state based on the number games played  there. It's the "Michael Jordan" rule. 

https://www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/sports/how-michael-jordans-jock-tax-brought-millions-to-state-budgets

Yes, I didn't get that granular in my explanation, but this will be a major savings if it applies to his deferred salary. I believe certain cities like Philadelphia also assess a local tax on top of any state taxes. Ohtani will save tens of millions paying the Jock Tax across many states vs. paying California on the entire $680M amount. All other states have lower or zero personal income taxes.

States / Jurisdictions with no Jock Tax (6 current teams, 2 future teams):

• District of Columbia Washington Nationals (They have a local income tax for residents, but athletes who don't live there are not subject to it per Federal law).
• Florida Miami Marlins & Tampa Bay Rays
• Nevada Las Vegas A's
• Tennessee Nashville La Russas
• Texas Houston Astros & Texas Rangers
• Washington Seattle Mariners

Edited December 12, 2023 by South Side Hit Men

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

There's benefit to baseball to having every team legitimately on a level playing field. The Luxury Tax rule was genuinely simple, it made it challenging to find loopholes. I'm still not even sure how this one works, but it's definitely not good for baseball to have Ohtani making $600 million after his contract ends. 

What do you mean?  His $70M AAV only counts $46M against the CBT.  It’s that simple.  On top of that, the Dodgers only have to pay him $20M over the next 10 years, so beyond the pure accounting loophole they are benefit greatly from a cash flow perspective.

[Flash Tizzle]

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

They weren’t clever…the star that wanted to sign with them himself offered to defer 97% of the contract.  And it doesn’t just help them in the short-term, the PV of this is like 30% less as a result of Ohtani’s proposal to do this.  But hey, the rich get richer, which I’m sure casual fans will love.

Shouldn’t we be applauding Ohtani then for taking less money to play somewhere he wanted to go? 

[caulfield12]

https://theathletic.com/5126268/2023/12/11/chelsea-manchester-united-aston-villa/

 

Todd Boehly has been doing this with Chelsea (8 year deferrals over time) and his other Premier League for quite some time.

More famous for his Ohtani contract now.

 

EPL looking to close the loophole soon.

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Flash Tizzle said:

Shouldn’t we be applauding Ohtani then for taking less money to play somewhere he wanted to go? 

I just did applaud Ohtani’s desire to win, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for the game and should be allowed.  This is basically giving the Dodgers a cheat code on a cheat code.  It’s absolutely ridiculous from a parity perspective.

[Capn12]

9 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

There's benefit to baseball to having every team legitimately on a level playing field. The Luxury Tax rule was genuinely simple, it made it challenging to find loopholes. I'm still not even sure how this one works, but it's definitely not good for baseball to have Ohtani making $600 million after his contract ends. 

For every organization like the Dodgers who find ways to work around the LT, there are organizations like the White Sox, who do almost everything possible to avoid doing the things needed to be competitive. I'll have a hard time ever feeling bad for organizations like the Sox, Pirates, Twins, etc.

[Chicago White Sox]

@South Side Hit Men - Do you not like parity?

[Chicago White Sox]

4 minutes ago, Capn12 said:

For every organization like the Dodgers who find ways to work around the LT, there are organizations like the White Sox, who do almost everything possible to avoid doing the things needed to be competitive. I'll have a hard time ever feeling bad for organizations like the Sox, Pirates, Twins, etc.

Ok, now do the Rays.  Is this fair for them?

[bmags]

I wonder if it’s possible to have an opinion on baseball that isn’t solely based on how it reflects on Reinsdorfs ownership

[HoosierSox]

This deal should have been right up JRs alley. 20 mil for 10 yrs. He'd be long gone before he has to pay anything. What a great deal for the Dodgers.

[South Side Hit Men]

The luxury tax was not created for on-field parity. It was created because "small market" teams represent the majority of MLB owner votes.

Dodger fans watching their last legitimate season VHS World Series tapes and wondering what the fuss is all about this alleged schematic advantage.

Mets fans doing the same with their last World Series Championship VHS tapes.

 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, South Side Hit Men said:

The luxury tax was not created for on-field parity. It was created because "small market" teams represent the majority of MLB owner votes.

Dodger fans watching their last legitimate season VHS World Series tapes and wondering what the fuss is all about this alleged schematic advantage.

Mets fans doing the same with their last World Series Championship VHS tapes.

 

What in the world are you talking about?

[Texsox]

29 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

There's benefit to baseball to having every team legitimately on a level playing field. The Luxury Tax rule was genuinely simple, it made it challenging to find loopholes. I'm still not even sure how this one works, but it's definitely not good for baseball to have Ohtani making $600 million after his contract ends. 

I'm with you 100% on this. The only upside to the league that I can think of is it could hamper the Dodgers for a decade after he's gone. All the cost, none of the benefit. 

This may also quicken the pace to a min/max salary situation in baseball. 

[Lip Man 1]

29 minutes ago, Flash Tizzle said:

Shouldn’t we be applauding Ohtani then for taking less money to play somewhere he wanted to go? 

And to enable the Dodgers to continue to go after the best talent. That's a good teammate and a guy who puts winning high up on the priority list. 

[Lip Man 1]

4 minutes ago, Texsox said:

I'm with you 100% on this. The only upside to the league that I can think of is it could hamper the Dodgers for a decade after he's gone. All the cost, none of the benefit. 

This may also quicken the pace to a min/max salary situation in baseball. 

I'm willing to wager a good deal of money that MLB will NEVER repeat NEVER see a salary cap / salary floor instituted.

[TaylorStSox]

3 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

And to enable the Dodgers to continue to go after the best talent. That's a good teammate and a guy who puts winning high up on the priority list. 

Yes, the guy already making like $50 million a year in sponsorships is a saint for deferring his $700 million contract. How selfless... 

 

The lack of CBT hit is total bullshit and terrible for the game.

[Texsox]

2 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

I'm willing to wager a good deal of money that MLB will NEVER repeat NEVER see a salary cap / salary floor instituted.

I think a cap is more likely than a floor. 

[Lip Man 1]

1 minute ago, TaylorStSox said:

Yes, the guy already making like $50 million a year in sponsorships is a saint for deferring his $700 million contract. How selfless... 

 

The lack of CBT hit is total bullshit and terrible for the game.

Nothing stopping the Sox or any team from taking the same advantage of the loopholes is there? 

[Lip Man 1]

2 minutes ago, Texsox said:

I think a cap is more likely than a floor. 

The MLBPA is literally the strongest union in the world, they'll never, repeat never agree to a salary cap on earnings.

Nor should they in my opinion given what MLB as an industry is raking in. 

[TaylorStSox]

3 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Nothing stopping the Sox or any team from taking the same advantage of the loopholes is there? 

The Sox have the 16th highest valuation in baseball and have averaged the 13th highest payroll over the last 20 years. The Sox will never be able to compete with the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets. It's just not realistic. It's MLB's fault more than the Sox.

Edited December 12, 2023 by TaylorStSox

[TaylorStSox]

1 minute ago, TaylorStSox said:

The Sox have the 16th highest valuation in baseball and have averaged the 13th highest payroll over the last 20 years. The Sox will never be able to compete with the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets. It's just not realistic. It's MLB's fault more than the Sox.

And f*** Jerry.

[Capn12]

35 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Ok, now do the Rays.  Is this fair for them?

Are the Rays not capable of doing the exact same thing? Oh, they don't have the same kind of money? Well, that means its no different than any other FA signing. The haves will always do, the have nots will always complain about the haves, and the White Sox/Twins/Pirates/etc will always cry 'woe is me, we can't compete'.

 

Meanwhile, the White Sox organization is valued at 2.05 BILLION dollars.

 

Woe is us, indeed.

[caulfield12]

17 minutes ago, TaylorStSox said:

The Sox have the 16th highest valuation in baseball and have averaged the 13th highest payroll over the last 20 years. The Sox will never be able to compete with the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets. It's just not realistic. It's MLB's fault more than the Sox.

How many of the playoff appearances the last 10-15 years have been Teams 1-8 or 1-10 in payroll.   Last season was a post child for "bad" spending like the Mets, Padres and Cardinals, for example.

There's definitely a correlation between payroll and playoffs...but it has never stopped the Rays, Twins, Guardians, Brewers, Orioles (now), A's (more 2000-2015ish), etc.

The Royals almost won more WS titles than Dodgers/Yankees/Mets/Angels, over the last twenty years or so.

Marlins have won two.

Giants won 3 WS titles and had the best record in baseball three seasons ago without ever having signed a huge FA deal (except for Bonds, who was internal and obviously an exceptional situation.)

The Braves have done nearly as well as the Dodgers without running one of the Top 6-8 payrolls in baseball every single season.

ETC. ETC.

 

White Sox have allocated money for 0-1 scouts over the last twenty years in the Pacific Rim.

They've allocated more than $15+ million to Leury Garcia, however.

 

[Texsox]

11 minutes ago, Capn12 said:

Are the Rays not capable of doing the exact same thing? Oh, they don't have the same kind of money? Well, that means its no different than any other FA signing. The haves will always do, the have nots will always complain about the haves, and the White Sox/Twins/Pirates/etc will always cry 'woe is me, we can't compete'.

 

Meanwhile, the White Sox organization is valued at 2.05 BILLION dollars.

 

Woe is us, indeed.

You're home is valued at $400,000. Therefore you can afford a $50,000 a year landscaper. Not a perfect analogy, but close.

What number is closer to what they can spend is annual revenue. And I'm certain that shows they could spend more. 

[Chicago White Sox]

29 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Nothing stopping the Sox or any team from taking the same advantage of the loopholes is there? 

I’m sorry, which other teams were offered this deal by Ohtani?  And do those teams also have access to a TV deal worth $320M/year to allow for unlimited levels of spend?