Ahead of the All-Star break, LA Angels’ Ohtani Shohei is emerging as the top topic in the Major League again.
Otani will start as a designated hitter in the American League (AL) in the 93rd All-Star Game held at T Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington on the 12th (Korea Standard Time). He won the most AL votes in the first round of All-Star fan voting, which ended on the 23rd of last month, and became the main character in the designated hitter category without going through the second round of voting.
And he was also named as an AL pitcher on the list of pitchers and reserves in both leagues released by MLB on the 3rd. It has not been decided whether Otani will actually take the All-Star Game mound, but he will play in the All-Star Game for three consecutive years as a pitcher and hitter.
Otani is making this season his career high. In both leagues, he topped six categories, including home runs (31), slugging percentage (0.664), OPS (1.054), Ruta (217), slugging percentage (51), and hit percentage (0.180), turning the halfway mark of the season. It is also ranked first in bWAR and fWAR with 6.7 and 6.1, respectively. If you want to pick the AL MVP in the first half, of course it’s Ohtani.
With the non-waver trade deadline 메이저도메인 (August 2) just four weeks away, attention is also being paid to his future. However, it is unlikely that the Angels will trade Otani.
As of the 4th, the Angels are ranked fifth in the AL wild card with 45 wins and 42 losses, so they can continue their hopes of advancing to the playoffs. It is judged that autumn baseball cannot be played without Ohtani. Perry Minasian, head of the Angels, recently dismissed the possibility of Ohtani’s trade, saying, “Looking at our current position, I don’t think we need an explanation.”
In the end, the scenario of going to the FA market after the season in the Angels is the highest at the moment.
In this regard, a leading local baseball media outlet has released an anecdote about Otani’s FA ransom, drawing attention.
Baseball America reporter Kyle Glazer recently said on his Twitter account, “I talked with a senior front office official about Otani’s ransom for 11 years and $550 million (about 713.4 billion won), and he begged me to react, saying, ‘You’re too low.'”
In other words, the average annual salary (AAV) is $50 million, and a person above the general manager insisted that he should receive more than that.
The LA Times published an article on “FA Otani’s contract” in April and said, “An agent expected Otani to sign a 12-year contract of $600 million (AAV of $50 million),” while the annual salary site Sportrack said, “8 years of $230 million as a pitcher, 10 years of $33 million as a batter, or a total of $563 million is reasonable.”
Is there a club that can meet these conditions. The prevailing expectation is that demand will overflow. Otani was born on July 5, 1994. He turned 29 years old. Next year is the 30-year-old season. The risk of injury may increase.
Another media outlet Sporting News said, “An issue that is not well mentioned regarding special players such as Otani is the risk of injury due to long-term contracts. The team signing him has to take a huge risk. The size of Otani’s contract is difficult to get insurance (the latest example of giving up insurance is Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals and Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers), but the clubs are not trying to keep in mind the worst scenario related to injury. However, in the case of Otani, it seems that he will have to think about it.’
The media then said, “Ottani will definitely sit on a huge cushion of money. He said he will continue to make money outside the baseball stadium, adding, “Where he will play after this season will be the most urgent question for the rest of the season.”