Do the Angels owe us an explanation?

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Perhaps I haven’t seen it (I follow @Jeff Fletcher closely on OCR), but does Arte and the organization owe the fans, ST holders, the players (assuming they haven’t gotten info), and pending free agents an explanation?

It would be nice if our media actually had access to the owner to discuss these things. Not a press conference but a nice sit down one on one. 
 

It’s hard to believe the org sucks this hard, but then it isn’t.  They can’t even say “we tried everything to keep Shohei here?”

[mmc]

No

[T.G.]

An explanation for why they didn't hire Hurdle? 

Yes. Absolutely.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

I don’t care about hurdle. Would be good to have him, but I would like more transparency. 
 

I don’t want to hear in a Shohei interview that the Angels made no effort to keep him or low-balled him. 

[jsnpritchett]

My guess is the explanation is "We didn't want to pay him $700M".  I don't think it's that hard to understand.  I don't think they owe us anything.

[Stradling]

What if Arte said, “we offered over $500 million and we thought he wanted to stay here after asking not to be traded at the deadline”?  What would that do for free agents?  What would that say to fans?  What is the positive outcome?  People who hate Arte will hate Arte.  Would fans really change their opinion of the situation? Will free agents really want to hear him blame a player? 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, jsnpritchett said:

My guess is the explanation is "We didn't want to pay him $700M".  I don't think it's that hard to understand.  I don't think they owe us anything.

They don’t.  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

My guess is the explanation is "We didn't want to pay him $700M".  I don't think it's that hard to understand.  I don't think they owe us anything.

Paying that kind of money for one player is insane. I realize that the Dodgers have deferred a bunch of the money, perhaps most, but it will still come due.

[Dtwncbad]

They don’t owe me any explanation.  Their negotiations are private.

They can choose to tell me whatever they want to tell me, but they owe me absolutely nothing regarding their negotiations with a player.

[T.G.]

 

[Dtwncbad]

4 minutes ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Paying that kind of money for one player is insane.

The Dodgers have been cited as the textbook way to run an organization how many times?  But now they are “insane”?

I’m in my late fifties. Forgive me if I roll my eyes a bit when fans have labeled every single contract escalation over the last 40 years as “insane.”

[T.G.]

Roll your eyes all you want, $700 million is insane.

Good for Ohtani though.

[Angels 1961]

Be nice to have press conference with Perry and explain what they might do next. 

[Erstad Grit]

I don't need or want an explanation. I want money spent on quality players

[Lhalo]

8 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Roll your eyes all you want, $700 million is insane.

Good for Ohtani though.

It's not insane. The Dodgers are a worldwide brand. The broadcast rights and Ohtani merch sales will be enough to make that money back well before his 10 year contract is up.

They'll up the ticket prices and charge more for food/beer as well.

[Angelsjunky]

30 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

My guess is the explanation is "We didn't want to pay him $700M".  I don't think it's that hard to understand.  I don't think they owe us anything.

This. You can't fault them for not wanting to shell out 70% of a billion dollars. It is stupid money and, for the Angels as a team (and not simply a business), would have been a stupid move.

So in a way this ironically may show us that Arte and the Angels are about more than just money.

(Or it could simply be that Shohei was done with the Angels and wanted to be a Dodger; and the Dodgers wanted him bad enough to out-spend anyone else, as I'm guessing no one else went over $600M or so).

[T.G.]

3 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

It's not insane. The Dodgers are a worldwide brand. The broadcast rights and Ohtani merch sales will be enough to make that money back well before his 10 year contract is up.

They'll up the ticket prices and charge more for food/beer as well.

Paying anyone to play a game for $700 million is insane, regardless of who is paying them - iMO.

Again... Good for Ohtani.

[Lhalo]

2 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Paying anyone to play a game for $700 million is insane, regardless of who is paying them - iMO.

Again... Good for Ohtani.

When paying someone $700 million grosses you more money it is not insane.

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

When paying someone $700 million grosses you more money it is not insane.

You're missing the point.

[Lhalo]

Just now, T.G. said:

You're missing the point.

I understand what you're trying to say but when the next big contract goes over a billion dollars, Ohtani's contract will seem more in line. That's what is coming down the pike eventually.

[T.G.]

Just now, Lhalo said:

I understand what you're trying to say but when the next big contract goes over a billion dollars, Ohtani's contract will seem more in line. That's what is coming down the pike eventually.

And in my OPINION, that's insane.

[Lhalo]

Just now, T.G. said:

And in my OPINION, that's insane.

Your opinion smells like doodoo and I think you're a poopy head.

[Taylor]

The Angels don't owe us anything. Typical entitled boomer mindset.

[T.G.]

7 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Your opinion smells like doodoo and I think you're a poopy head.

You can't smell an opinion.

[Angelsjunky]

9 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

When paying someone $700 million grosses you more money it is not insane.

Ohtani is less of a business risk than he is a baseball risk, so in that sense I can agree that he's an example of "spending a ton to make even more."

But in terms of baseball itself--which is all I care about as a fan--it is a terrible risk, which is why I appreciate the fact that the Angels presumably didn't really compete. Regardless of how the money is spread out and over how long a time, paying any player $70M a year is just insane. Paying a guy who has a legit chance of being a DH for the rest of his career that kind of money, is just bonkers.

Chances are he'll continue to be a superstar for some years to come, but that we've seen the best of him. There's a chance that he could have a year or two even better than 2021-23 if he, say, combines 2022 pitching with 2023 hitting. But there's also a possibility that 2023's hitting is the outlier and he'll never be the pitcher he was. I do think he'll age well and not drop off a cliff--he wants to be good too badly for that to happen. But I just don't think you can expect 9+ WAR seasons from him on a regular basis, and the Dodgers are essentially paying him to continue at 2021-23 level for at least half of that contract. The chances of that happening aren't high enough to make the contract worth the risk, imo.

Or as Jeff said in the podcast, a few months ago before the injury, we were talking about $500M as dubious. Then he got hurt and everyone assumed his price would plummet. But somehow his agents managed public opinion and his injury was seemingly forgotten, or at least minimized. And then somehow the price not only returned to half a billion, but soared past that.

The point being, if we were balking at $500M back in June, and then thinking much less in September, why is anyone bummed the Angels didn't pay him $700M or more? I get being bummed about losing Ohtani - I feel it too - but I don't get thinking that the Angels somehow fucked us over because they wouldn't pay him like he was going to continue at his 2021-23 pace for the next half decade or more.