Twice the player, a fraction of the cost
Japanese star Ohtani pitches and hits and teases big-league GMs
As a dual threat, Shohei Ohtani is no Ted Radcliffe.
In the 1932 Negro League World Series, Radcliffe caught the first half of a doubleheader, in which legendary battery mate Satchel Paige hurled a shutout, then pitched his team to a victory in the nightcap.
The feat earned him his nickname, Double Duty, and set a standard for baseball versatility that not even Ohtani — a fireballing, heavy-hitting star in Japan — has matched.
But unlike Radcliffe, who played before the big leagues were integrated, the 23year-old Ohtani has a chance to display his wide-ranging skills in the majors.
When healthy, Ohtani pitches once a week for the Nippon Ham Fighters, going 42-15 with 13 complete games over his five-year career. And when not pitching, he plays outfield or designated hitter, and has slashed .286/.358/.500 over 403 games.
Ohtani intends to sign with a majorleague team this winter, and has made it known he doesn’t plan to choose between the mound and the batter’s box in North America.
He intends to both pitch and hit in the majors, and if he succeeds could prompt teams to question how they develop and deploy talent. Is it really impossible to pitch and play another position at the highest level, or do we simply not allow players to do it?
Ohtani’s highest profile comparable is Babe Ruth, who was primarily a pitcher before blossoming in to his era’s greatest power hitter. From1915 to1917, Ruth averaged 21 wins and 24 complete games a season for the Boston Red Sox. In 1916, he pitched 3232⁄ innings without giving up
3 a home run, finishing the year with a league-best 1.75 ERA.
A century later we receive sporadic reminders that some pitchers remain skilled hitters. New York Mets star Noah Syndergaard has posted a .618 OPS for his career, and his 11 base hits in 2016 included three home runs.
Giants ace Madison Bumgarner recorded a .721OPS this season, and his career stat line includes more home runs (17) than doubles (16).
But even the best-hitting pitchers pitch better than they hit, hence the decision to let their arms carry them to the big leagues.
Most times players make that choice — or coaches make it for them — long before they reach the big leagues, and this is where the sixfoot-three, 189-pound Ohtani differs from even the most versatile major leaguers.
The Japan Pacific League, where Ohtani has played since 2013, is generally considered a step below MLB but a notch above Triple-A.
By the time most prospects are on the verge of a promotion to the majors, they’ve been specialists for years, yet Ohtani continues holding down two jobs at pro baseball’s second-highest level.
Ankle injuries limited in him in 2017 — he pitched just five games and appeared in 65 as a designated hitter. But the previous year Ohtani put up his best full-season offensive numbers, hitting .322 with 22 home runs and a1.004 OPS. As a pitcher he went 10-4 while recording a career-low ERA (1.86) and career high strikeout rate (11.2 per nine innings).
Such impressive all-around stats at such a high level raise the tantalizing prospect that Ohtani can repeat those feats in the majors.
But there’s also a chance that someone with no specialty is two-way, quadruple-A player — skilled enough to stand out in a dual role in Japan, but average in both aspects in the majors.
Either way, Ohtani’s eagerness to reach MLB will mitigate the financial risk for the team that signs him.
the Texas Rangers paid $51.7 million in 2012 for the right to negotiate with Yu Darvish, then invested another $60 million in his six-year contract.
By contrast, Ohtani’s posting fee is set at $20 million. Meanwhile ,his signing bonus is subject to MLB-imposed spending limits on international free agents younger than 25, and his 2018 salary wouldn’t exceed the league-minimum $545,000. The Blue Jays entered the 2017-2018 signing period with $4.75 million available on international free agent bonuses, but spent more than $3 million signing four premium prospects in July.
By waiting two more years, Ohtani would have been free to sign a majorleague deal for as much as a team wanted to pay him.
Published reports have the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Oakland A’s leading the list of teams pursuing Ohtani seriously.
Regardless, acquiring Ohtani also means creating a role that works for both him and his new teammates.
Is he an everyday designated hitter who moonlights as a starting pitcher?
Can he handle the rigours of hitting and base running without compromising his pitching?
And even if he’s productive at two positions, can he sustain that performance over a major-league season that’s 12 per cent longer than Japanese campaigns?
Ohtani is eager to answer those questions next year, even though he could make more money by waiting.
And the fact that these mysteries still exist is part of what makes this off-season drama so enthralling.