OHTANI IS A MAN WHO LOVES HIS DOG — AND CAN’T WAIT TO KILL THE WORLD
He explained hundreds of millions in deferrals, his unique out-clause, his second Tommy John surgery and why he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have become the most loathed team in sports
Please don’t call him mechanical or unemotional. He is not an automaton as much as someone who plays baseball and prepares to play baseball, to the point his dog’s name actually is Decoy, the sweetest way for a two-sworded marauder to mislead enemies into traps via clouting and pitching.
The other night, when the sports world was wondering where he was located, Shohei Ohtani was at home in Newport Beach. He smiled Thursday when he told the story. His eyebrows were raised, and he looked nice, wearing a blue suit and blue tie with a white shirt, until he wore a Dodgers jersey that had No. 17 on the front and a LA logo on the shoulder. When agent Nez Balelo called, he was busy.
“For the most part, when Nez was talking, I was walking my dog,” Ohtani said. “People kept on asking, are you flying to Toronto, and I was aware of it, but I was on the couch with my dog at that time.”
So in the continued cultural melding of baseball’s gift to Earth, we see he stays domesticated and dreams of winning many World Series. The laughter came when we realized Ohtani doesn’t act like the athletic greats we’ve watched — from Ali to Jordan, from Brady to Messi, returning to Babe Ruth’s wine, women and cigars — and will be malleable when we expect grandiosity. From 2024 through 2033, after which 97 percent of his contract will be deferred without interest through 2043, he should be enjoyed with multi-honed abilities that never have existed to this degree.
Such were the messages he sent at his first news conference, in the center-field plaza at Dodger Stadium, where he answered everything asked about his 10-year, $700 million contract. Why would he anger financial managers across the globe in deferring $680 million — all but $20 million? Is he that passionate about winning and letting the Dodgers pursue more championship talent? Might he delight in not paying California’s top tax rate, which climbs to 14.4 percent next year? Flanked by an interpreter who is becoming famous himself, Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani responded without drama. It’s typical.
“Uh, I was aware of the deferrals. I’ve heard deferrals are involved, not all the time,” he said. “I did some calculations. I figured if I can defer as much money as I can, if that’s going to help the CBT (Competitive Balance Tax) and help the Dodgers sign better players and have a better team, I felt like that was worth it.”
He wants to win, with $50 million in annual endorsements helping his wish. And why did Ohtani leave himself one unique out-clause, allowing him to leave the team if two key players in his recent negotiations — controlling owner Mark Walter and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman — depart the boat? This is serious business, the largest contract in sports history. In 10 years, what if they fall ill or can’t do their jobs anymore? Sayonara?
“Everyone has to be on the same page to have a winning organization. Those two are at the top, in control of everything,” Ohtani said. “It’s like having a contract with those two guys. If one of them are gone and we’re not on the same page, it might get out of control. I wanted a safety net.”
This is where local legends who have controlled franchises — Kobe Bryant, LeBron James — would be nodding. The man who calls his dog Decoy has a safety net, too. Ohtani wants the men who signed him in the house the entire time. “My contract is for 10 years, and I’m not sure how long I’ll play this game. I prioritize winning,” he said, aware that he’s 29 years old and that his second Tommy John elbow operation was performed in September. “That’s on the top of my list and that will never change and that’s one of the reasons I chose this team.”
Meaning? “One thing that stands out when I had the meeting with the Dodgers, the ownership group, they said when they looked back at the last 10 years, even though they made the playoffs every single year and won one World Series — and they considered that a failure,” Ohtani said. “When I heard that, I knew they were all about winning. I can’t wait to play for the Dodgers. They share the same passion as me, a vision and history of winning.”
Per that surgery, which team surgeon Neal ElAttrache calls a basic Tommy John deal, Ohtani raised the howls of fans who want to see him pitch before 2025. Don’t overreact. “I’m not obviously an expert in the medical field, but it was a procedure. I’m not sure what it’s called, I know it was completely different than the first time,” he said, saying later, “It feels a lot better than the first time, a good sign.” There is no reason for ElAttrache to lie.
Throughout baseball, throughout sports, people have to wonder how Shotime came to happen as a peak in the 21st century. Americans couldn’t convince kids to hit and pitch with elite performances. Japan did. The manager of the Dodgers, Dave Roberts, is the son of a Japanese mother and an African American father. He grasps an international mentality that brought his Los Angeles arrival, in mid-afternoon, to fans in Japan the next morning. “It’s personal, as a baseball man, black and Japanese, to have someone who looks like me,” Roberts said. “It’s breaking boundaries, breaking walls. With the Asian culture in LA., people who don’t know baseball will be tuning in to see Shohei and the Dodgers.”
Said Friedman: “Shohei is arguably the most-talented player who has ever played this game. One of our goals is to have baseball fans in Japan convert to Dodger blue.” What, they haven’t already?
His signing won’t change the longstanding national shift of football, football and more football. But when Ohtani performs, ticket sales and jersey purchases are off the charts. The Dodger Dog could be replaced by a Shohei Decoy. The controlling owner, Walter, made it clear behind a Guggenheim Baseball sign that expectations will be even higher to win it all. The financiers have committed their $700 million, however it is broken down. If the Dodgers continue not to win with Ohtani and another top pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, the doomsayers will laugh. They shouldn’t laugh too loud because Ohtani returns year after year, assuming Walter and Friedman don’t go overboard.
“I’m always a challenger,” Ohtani said. “I love challenges. I’ll be facing a lot of new challenges with the Dodgers.”
He faced no challenges when Balelo proposed deferred money last Friday, which decreased the annual CBT charge to $46 million on the $700 million blockbuster. “They said: Here’s what it would take? What do you think?” said team president Stan Kasten, who looked ready to do handstands in the outfield grass.
But Ohtani has widened eyes in baseball like never before. He’ll face a doubter in an unlikely place, Arizona, where Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick took a shot at him after reaching the World Series. “Last I looked, he’s one of nine. And the last I also looked, he’s a (designated hitter),” he said. “He’s a great player. Is he the second coming? I would suggest not.”
And for all the giddy commentary from writers who say Ohtani’s jackpot revives baseball — beyond its fun-at-the-ballpark leisure — Alex Rodriguez made a shrewd observation. Remember when he signed with the Yankees for 10 years and $275 million, which is $425 million shy of Ohtani? Now, he says: “It is a great deal for the Dodgers. It is a great deal for Ohtani. I believe it’s a poor deal for baseball and for 29 other owners. Just to give an example, the Dodgers collect $250 million in TV money from cable every year. The (Miami) Marlins collect $15 million — 250 to 15, in the same league. You have two teams that make less than Ohtani makes per year. So, Ohtani makes $70 (million), and you have two teams that pay 26 players under $70 (million). That’s not a sustainable model for a business.”
He’s right. The Dodgers will continue to explode in southern California and will carry the banner to Japan, where Walter’s financial, media and entertainment businesses fly high. The other teams, beyond New York and Texas at present? Good luck. Right now, the only chatter in the Dodgers’ clubhouse was Freddie Freeman’s crackpot line to Roberts the other day, with Ohtani nearby: “OK, Doc, who’s hitting second and who’s hitting third?”
Whatever Shohei wants. His presence means the Dodgers become the most loathed team in sports. He’ll accept it. “I don’t see anything on the ceiling but World Series or bust,” Roberts said. “There’s no greater gift or goal. I have the opportunity to manage one of the greatest talents to put on a uniform.”
For Friedman, who faces increasing heat with every postseason loss, Ohtani’s out-clause assures him a job. “Obviously, it’s really flattering, but also it’s a non-factor for me,” he said.
The factor, as dusk began to settle over Chavez Ravine, was when Ohtani would see his dog. Decoy is the American name. Dekopin or Decopin is Japanese. “It was originally Decoy, but I took that because it sounded more Japanese,” he said. “His name is hard for the American people.”
Anyone who shuts down a messy world by wrestling with his dog, no matter what he calls it, is worth our prying eyes. “Once in forever,” said team broadcaster Joe Davis, before Shotime took some dry swings in the ballpark, about 100 days from a two-game series with San Diego in Seoul, where baseball has a chance to finally carry the world.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.