MLB Players Tried to Guess What Shohei Ohtani Will Earn on His Next Contract
There has never been a free agent quite like Shohei Ohtani.
The Angels designated hitter/pitcher will hit the open market this offseason on the heels of three of the most dominant individual seasons in the history of baseball, barring a complete second-half collapse in 2023. Teams seem likely to back up the Brink's truck for the 29-year-old, whose star continues to ascend.
What kind of salary Ohtani will command is anyone’s guess, but it didn’t stop All-Stars from taking guesses in a video tweeted by the Associated Press Tuesday morning.
“$600 million,” Royals catcher Salvador Perez said.
“He’s got a situation where he’s playing two different positions, pitcher and DH, and doing them at an elite level. Every team should want him. … I don’t wanna put a number on it because I don’t know,” Rangers infielder Marcus Semien said.
How much do MLB All-Stars think Shohei Ohtani will make this offseason? $500 million? $600 million?
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 11, 2023
"I don’t even know how to put a number on that," Freddie Freeman said. "We’ll all find out together.”https://t.co/198UbkrSdb pic.twitter.com/Y3wyjpASoQ
“Shoot, I get paid as one player. He’s out there doing things, that’s two players,” Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen said. “You gotta pay him as a pitcher, and you gotta pay him as a DH.”
One by one, All-Stars declined to give figures—except for Blue Jays pitcher Jordan Romano, who seconded Perez’s $600 million—but expressed awe at Ohtani’s talents.
“He’s a unicorn,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I don’t even know how to put a number on that. We’ll all find out together.”