NEWSLETTER
Cold-open question: If you’re an MLB executive and Shohei Ohtani is on the open market, how much would you be willing to pay the two-way superstar to come to your franchise? Think about it before you read too far below. Really get a figure in your mind.
Tony Gonsolin Makes His Case for the NL ASG Start
We’ve already talked about Max Fried bolstering his case to start for the NL All-Stars later this month. We’ve discussed Sandy Alcántara’s strong case, Carlos Rodón, too. The field of worthy pitchers to earn that honor is loaded, and Tony Gonsolin can’t be left out of the conversation.
Gonsolin allowed two runs in a Dodgers 5-3 win over the Cubs on Thursday night and moved to 11-0 on the season, the best record in the majors. Dave Roberts said that Gonsolin (whose three strikeouts were his fewest since April) didn’t even have his best stuff last night.
“I thought even without his best stuff, he was able to navigate 24, 25 hitters,” Roberts said. “He was behind more than he typically has been. But when he’s going that well, he can still navigate the lineup and still put out a quality start.”
Gonsolin’s 1.62 ERA still leads baseball and is in the top three in nearly all statistical categories. He also became the first pitcher in MLB history to go 10-0 with fewer than 50 hits allowed to open a season in his last start before the Cubs game last night.
While Gonsolin has been extremely impressive this season, he’s in a deep pool of worthy candidates to start the game, and, for my money, Sandy Alcántara is the front-runner by a hair as of right now.
Alcántara, who has one more start before the ASG, has logged a considerably more significant amount of innings than Gonsolin and owns a 1.82 ERA and a 2.85 FIP this season. There’s also this to remember: Braves skipper Brian Snitker is choosing who is starting for the NL All-Star team, and his guy Max Fried has a strong candidacy. Will he get the nod from his skipper in Atlanta?
Shohei Is Worth How Much!?
We’ve discussed the extraordinary things that Shohei Ohtani is accomplishing this season. The two-way superstar is nothing short of the most amazing show on a baseball diamond right now, begging the question, what is a player of Ohtani’s unique skillset worth on the open market?
According to FanGraphs, Ohtani, when factoring in both his offensive and pitching contributions over the past two seasons, has been worth a combined $98.4 million. When extrapolated over 162 games, that comes out to $65.1 million annually.
Holy smokes!
If Ohtani gets a 10-year deal – typical for superstars these days – at that FanGraphs calculation, that’s Ohtani will blow teammate Mike Trout’s record-setting $426.5 million deal out of the water with a $651 million contract.
Ohtani might be worth $65 million per season (maybe even more), but I can’t see that happening. That would be insane. However, it’s a good possibility that Ohtani will become the first $500 million player in baseball at some point.
Sale Calls Triple-A Tantrum Idiot Behavior … Sort Of
You’ve seen it by now, Chris Sale trashing the clubhouse after he was pulled from his fourth minor league rehab start in Worcester on Wednesday night. Sale allowed three hits and notched five strikeouts to go with the five free passes in 3 2/3 innings and took his frustrations out on a TV.
Sale told Chris Cotillo that he “acted like an idiot” and had done so before. Sale also said that that idiot behavior is “who I am” and “what makes me a big leaguer,” which is bull crap. I don’t think that temper tantrums, including most notably destroying a TV and cutting up jerseys you didn’t like, make you a “big leaguer.” Sale had it right when he admitted that he acted like an idiot and probably could have left it there.
Apparently Sale replaced the broken TV and spent “over $6,000 on lunch and dinner for the players, coaches, and staff” in Worcester. Still, grow up, man. Sale will return to the Red Sox rotation next week in Tampa Bay.
