“It’s poor deal for baseball…” Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal could hurt sport’s future claims Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez has given his say in the massive Shohei Ohtani deal and was worried that this could harm the future of the sport.

“It’s poor deal for baseball…” Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal could hurt sport’s future claims Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez (L) and Shohei Ohtani (R) [Pic Credit: Imago]

The past week in baseball saw a monumental development take place as Shohei Ohtani landed the biggest MLB contract. The Japanese star joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on a massive $700 million deal. Since this news broke out, many fans and experts have shared their thoughts on this. Former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez has now reacted to this and dropped an interesting take.

Rodriguez also known as A-Rod, is a highly popular figure in MLB. While most of it may have come through his drug usage incident, he is still widely regarded as one of the greats. So he does know what it is like to play at the highest level and make huge money. He though has now claimed that this deal for Ohtani is bad for baseball and could hurt the future of the sport.

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This past Saturday, Ohtani announced his move to the Dodgers. His $700 million contract is the biggest any player has received in US Sports, which drew comparison to other sports. A-Rod claimed that the deal was good for the Dodgers but bad for other teams in the league.

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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... 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.
Alex Rodriguez on Shohei Ohtani’s deal via The Messenger.

Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo blasts MLB over Shohei Ohtani’s contract deferral

As the baseball world tried to come to terms with the mega Shohei Ohtani deal, another interesting development from it took a couple of days later. It was later revealed that Ohtani had planned to defer $680 million of his contract money until the end of this deal. Fans would later slam the MLB for his action. Radio sportsperson Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo has now joined them.

Chris Russo and Shohei Ohtani
Chris Russo (L) and Shohei Ohtani (R) [Image via NBC New York/The Athletic]

As per reports, Ohtani will now only earn $2 million each year until the end of the 2034 season. After that, he will make $68 million from 2034 to 2043 every year. This option is his contract did not go down well by many and Russo has now blasted the league for allowing this to happen.

That is completely bogus. That’s circumventing the salary cap, is what that is... This is an absolute disgrace. This is completely unfair to the ethics of the game.
Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo on Shohei Ohtani’s contract deferral via Sports Illustrated.

This development in the Ohtani contract has led to many asking the MLB to introduce a salary cap to the league. As for the Dodgers, this move has now opened up doors for them to try and strengthen their squad even further. There have been reports that they are also battling it out to land Ohtani, Japanese teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Will they get him though remains interesting to see.

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