If Ohtani converted to the OF, would you re-sign him and for how much?

[Angel Oracle]

The thought of Ohtani playing OF full time is more appealing than trying to do the unicorn thing going forward after two surgeries to his pitching elbow.

Note: Ohtani would likely have to DH for a lot of the 2024 season while building up the arm for OF throws up to several times a game.

Note: Aaron Judge started his 9 year/$360 million contract this season at age 31.    Ohtani is 30 in 2024.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Angel Oracle

[Angelsjunky]

To nitpick, Ohtani turns 30 in 2024, but it is his age 29 season as he turns 30 after July 1 (the 5th), which is the cutoff. So a ten-year contract is his age 29-38 seasons, and eight-year age 29-36.

Anyhow, to address the question, Ohtani's wRC+ numbers the last three years are 150, 142, 178. That makes me think that his true talent level is probably more like 150, with this year being what might very well be his best hitting year ever. 150 wRC+ is still a top 10 hitter, but 170 is the best hitter in most years.

My point being that it is one thing for 2021-22 to be his expected numbers, vs. 2023. 2021-22 as an average defensive corner outfielder is probably a 5-6 WAR player - a star, but not an MVP candidate. 2023 is still the AL MVP, even without the pitching. Which one is the "true" Ohtani, as far as hitting is concerned? 

What worries me about an Ohtani contract is that it seems his agent is trying to minimize the injury ("no worries, just a different part of the ligament") in order to get big two-way player bucks. So he's probably still going to get around 10/$450Mish, if maybe a bit less than he would have without the injury.

Meaning, there's no way he advertises himself as converting to the outfield, so even if that's eventually the case, he and his agent are trying to get that two-way player money.

So it is a moot point. But if he advertised as an outfielder, I think he'd still probably get about 10/$400M, or at the very least, the same money as Judge. 

[UndertheHalo]

I would re sign him to be a DH.  I don’t need him to pretend to play a position.  I need him to hit the ball and run fast.  
 

I will give him 45 million of Arte Morenos American dollars each year to do this for 8 years.  
 

if he pitches again then great.  I don’t even give a shit about that anymore. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by UndertheHalo

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

The thought of Ohtani playing OF full time is more appealing than trying to do the unicorn thing going forward after two surgeries to his pitching elbow.

Note: Ohtani would likely have to DH for a lot of the 2024 season while building up the arm for OF throws up to several times a game.

Note: Aaron Judge started his 9 year/$360 million contract this season at age 31.    Ohtani is 30 in 2024.

 

Given your listed contracts, I guess the answer is “no” then.

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

I would re sign him to be a DH.  I don’t need him to pretend to play a position.  I need him to hit the ball and run fast.  
 

I will give him 45 million of Arte Morenos American dollars each year to do this for 8 years.  
 

if he pitches again then great.  I don’t even give a shit about that anymore. 

Whatever team signs Ohtani long term for $45 mil a year is probably never winning anything. At least not without rocking far and away the largest payroll in the league.

[UndertheHalo]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

Whatever team signs Ohtani long term for $45 mil a year is probably never winning anything. At least not without rocking far and away the largest payroll in the league.

The angels are never winning anything either way.  Might as well have Ohtani.  

[AngelsLakersFan]

Just now, UndertheHalo said:

The angels are never winning anything either way.  Might as well have Ohtani.  

Hope is all we have

[UndertheHalo]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

Hope is all we have

Hope for more Ohtanisan 

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Hope for more Ohtanisan 

I hope we can play meaningful baseball in September one day…

[UndertheHalo]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I hope we can play meaningful baseball in September one day…

Probably never.  But more likely with the Ohtanisan. 

[Duren, Duren]

He is elite as a pitcher and hitter. But how would he be as a fielder? What if he was simply poor to average? It's not so automatic playing an unfamiliar position in the majors.

He (when healthy) has speed. And a powerful arm. But we don't know about his reflexes on balls coming off the bat. Nor how he would position himself in different ball parks and surfaces. And he wouldn't have the savvy about how to position against individual players till he had more experience. As well, the throws from the outfield are a lot different than the precision pitches from the mound. He would have to retrain his arm. 

Not that he couldn't make the switch. But I doubt he would be the natural phenom we see now. And other teams might enjoy testing him and making him look mortal. 

Contract wise if he was an OF/DH only I would go for the shorter term. Seven years max. He has been susceptible to injuries, and potentially crashing into fences or having leg injuries are new risks. Dollar wise,hard to say. Until these recent injuries he was in a perfect position to hit the stratosphere. You'd think any contract would have various conditional clauses. And probably be front loaded. Whatever it is I expect it still to be a record. Pro rated or in total.

[Stradling]

10 and $420 million. Something like that. Maybe 11 and $450. 

[tomsred]

The real question is do you want all $40 million plus eggs in one basket, or do you want 4 baskets of $10 million eggs.  Do you want to consolidate the risk, or dilute it by spreading it out.  If you want to dilute the risk we could get an outfielder, and three different pitchers.  If one or two of the four go down, you don't lose $40 + million eggs.  Or here is a novel idea, put $40 million + in the egg farm and when the chicks hatch watch it bloom and go crazy.  On the other hand do we trust the farmers?

[UndertheHalo]

Not wanting to re sign Ohtani is fake friend behavior @AngelsLakersFan

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Not wanting to re sign Ohtani is fake friend behavior @AngelsLakersFan

So is straining your oblique and then pretending to be day to day for a month to maintain your value in free agency!

[UndertheHalo]

9 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

So is straining your oblique and then pretending to be day to day for a month to maintain your value in free agency!

Sir.  An incredible accusation.  

[Dtwncbad]

If he can’t pitch, there would be no reason to force fit him into being an OF.  Every team needs a DH, so he would just DH.

[Angels 1961]

I put him in OF. Open up DH spot for Trout, Rendon among others including Ohtani

[Stradling]

If he’s just a DH then I’d give him $300 over 10 or 11 years. 

[Make Angels Great Again]

28 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If he can’t pitch, there would be no reason to force fit him into being an OF.  Every team needs a DH, so he would just DH.

If he’s not going to pitch, that doesn’t mean he’s limited to DH only. It’s not force fitting. He’s played there before and clearly has the arm strength. DH is I think best suited for players that are inept or physically incapable of playing the field.

[Jeff Fletcher]

34 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If he can’t pitch, there would be no reason to force fit him into being an OF.  Every team needs a DH, so he would just DH.

I think he would want to play a position if he couldn’t pitch. 
 
Also, it’s not good for any team’s roster management to have one player locked into the DH spot. It’s a small price to pay for having Ohtani as a pitcher, but if he couldn’t pitch I think it would be tougher to justify. 

[Jason]

I hope they resign him regardless of whether he plays a position or not. 

[Jason]

2 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Whatever team signs Ohtani long term for $45 mil a year is probably never winning anything. At least not without rocking far and away the largest payroll in the league.

I seriously doubt he will get that kind of money now, but if he does, you are absolutely right. 

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

If he can’t pitch, there would be no reason to force fit him into being an OF.  Every team needs a DH, so he would just DH.

Trout and Rendon need the DH on the regular too. That is going to be a problem. 

[Jason]

37 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

If he’s not going to pitch, that doesn’t mean he’s limited to DH only. It’s not force fitting. He’s played there before and clearly has the arm strength. DH is I think best suited for players that are inept or physically incapable of playing the field.

Isn’t his throwing arm injured? How’s that going to work throwing from the OF?