Meanwhile in St. LOUIS... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...DKAB6BAgnEAE&usg=AOvVaw2G0fU3u8dQJpk0EN7YjKso
Terry Francona was the highest paid mgr in baseball...and I read that the Tribe was prepared to offer Counsell the same amount...but not what Chicago offeed.
As expected the Astros named bench coach, Joe Espada, as the new manager. I don't know much about him to tell you the truth. He's been with the Astros for 6 years and never played in the majors. He's reportedly very popular with the players. He's interviewed for a number of jobs the last few years but nothing came of them. Hope he's a good choice. I see that the Brewers have hired Pat Murphy as their new manager. Pat was at one time the Irish baseball coach. I think the story is that he was at a small So.Cal school and when the ND job came open he begged for the job, sort of talked his way to South Bend where he was very successful.
Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole are your 2023 Cy Young award winners. Cole has been flirting with it for a number of years, finished 2nd in 2019 to teammate Justin Verlander.
No shock on the League MVP's Braves Ronald Acuna Jr had just an amazing season, as did the Angels Shohei Ohtani.
By now, most of us have read about the terms of Ohtani's contract. He's deferring all but $2 million /year for the 10 year term of the contract. From 2024 to 2033, his annual salary will be $2 million. From 2034 to 2043, he'll receive $68 million annually. This allows the Dodgers to continue to pay for their other talented players. Pretty interesting IMO.
The Dodgers are just delaying the chagrin they would normally feel in the present. Ohtani doesn't need the money so he can afford to postpone it. This has been done before. Remember Bobby Bonilla of the Mets? They still send him annual checks. Here are the recent ones: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: $700 million. Mike Trout, Angels: $426.5 million. Aaron Judge, Yankees: $360 million. Manny Machado, Padres: $350 million. Francisco Lindor, Mets: $341 million.
From Yahoo News....The Shohei Ohtani effect is real. On Sunday, StubHub ticket prices for the Dodgers’ home opener – and Ohtani’s debut with L.A. – started at $431 for standing room only. Tickets with actual seats were as high as $9,893 in the dugout club.
Another one of my childhood heroes has passed. Rocky Colavito remembers when a little ballplayer named Vic Davalillo stood tall – Terry Pluto
Re: Rocky Colavito. I didn't know that. I'm sorry. He was one of the first American Leaguers that I really liked. I started liking the Indians as a 10 year old kid in 1954 because, 1) they beat out the Yankees for the World Series, and 2) they were playing the Giants, who I didn't like because I was a Dodgers fan. My positive feelings about the Indians continued beyond that year through the Rocky Colavito era to the present day, the only AL team I've liked since childhood except when they played the Cubs in the WS.
Oops! Glad to know. Obviously, I saw your post, saw his name before anything else, and jumped to the the wrong conclusion. I vaguely remember remember Vic Davalillo but had forgotten he was so short.
FYI: Interesting twist to Ohtani's contract, courtesy Joe Pompliano, who appears to be a credible source (posted on X): One of the biggest misconceptions about Shohei Ohtani's contract is that the Dodgers will have an additional ten years to pay him the money. But that's not how it works. Major League Baseball's CBA requires teams to fully fund the present-day value of deferred payments within two years of when it is earned. That means the Dodgers will have to place $44 million in cash into an escrow account every year. The money will then grow with interest, and Ohtani will be paid his $68 million annual payment when the contract comes due. It's still beneficial to the team — but it really only buys the Dodgers an additional two years when it comes to the cash leaving their bank account.
Where will the next big Japanese player sign? Yamamoto is a terrific young prospect as a pitcher. The Yankees already have #18 jersey ready for him. I wonder who will get him, Dodgers also have a dog in the fight!
Dodgers are the winner of the Yamamoto sweepstakes. 325M over 12 years. The 25-year-old Yamamoto, a right-hander who has won three consecutive MVP awards and Sawamura Awards -- Nippon Professional Baseball's equivalent of the Cy Young -- has dominated NPB like nobody in the league's 74-year history since transitioning from the bullpen to Orix's rotation in 2019. Over 820⅓ innings, he has posted a 1.65 ERA, struck out nearly five times as many hitters as he has walked and allowed one home run every 28 innings.