DAILY DIRT: Could Ohtani sign an $800 million contract?

It’s going to be an interesting offseason, folks … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 656 of The Daily Dirt.

1. If you’ve been watching the reports and predictions beginning to surface regarding Shohei Ohtani’s pending free agency, the number you are likely seeing thrown about as a beginning figure is now up to $600 million.

The number of years in those proposed deals is usually 10 to 12. 

I think the bottom line on that package is only going to to increase between now and when free agent season opens in November.

What you have to remember with Ohtani is that he’s truly a unicorn. There is no other talent like him in today’s game. Not only is he one of MLB’s premier power hitters, Ohtani is also one of the elite starting pitchers.

Will he get paid equally for both of those talents? If so, his suitors better start their figures at about $80 million per season?

What?

Ohtani is a nonpareil talent and this is one chance to cash in on those abilities. (Not that he’s exactly hurting right now with $30 million salary, plus another $65 million in endorsements.)

The highest-paid starting pitchers in today’s game earn north of $40 million. The same goes for the A-list sluggers. With Ohtani, do you add those two numbers together?

If so, we’re going to be looking at an $80-million-a-year ballplayer. And a 10-year-deal, which is probably the minimum Ohtani will sign, means $800 million.

What teams could afford such a contract? Probably three — Yankees, Dodgers and Mets.

If that were the case, I’d bet my next Muddy River News paycheck that Ohtani is a Dodger next year — and in the foreseeable future. In the past, he has indicated a polite preference to be on the west coast, where it’s closer to his Japanese home and there is a large Japanese baseball community.

This will be fun to watch this all play out after the season, and I don’t think the courting and signing process will last all winter. Whoever signs him will want plenty of time to market the player who just might be the greatest individual talent in the history of the grand ole game.

2. A holiday edition of “Found on Facebook”:

• “Party like it’s 1776.”
• “What is red, white, black and blue? Uncle Sam falling down the stairs.”
• “When you told me you had pool, I thought I’d need my bathing suit, not a cue stick.”
• “Don’t mess with ‘Merica.”
• “Pies, fries, and the Fourth of July!”

3. Beer drinkers, beware. 

“If you love beer and have found that, in turn, mosquitoes love you, there’s actually a correlation between the two,” writes Emily Weaver of popsugar.com. “According to a study in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, those who drink beer will be more attractive to mosquitoes and have a high chance of being bitten.

“Researchers explained the chemical compound ethanol is a huge mosquito trigger, and when you’re consuming beer, the percentage of ethanol content in your sweat significantly increases. 

“Additionally, your body temperature rises when drinking alcohol, which makes for a perfect mosquito prompter,” Weaver said. “(Mosquitoes) love and feed off of heat and humidity. Lastly, mosquitoes are mostly interested in strong aromas and odors like that of a beer. So your skin will probably come across a lot more appetizing than that of your buddy who is drinking water or even tea. And unfortunately, it doesn’t take much beer to attract mosquitoes, either.”

The study illustrated that after consuming just one 12-ounce bottle, beer drinkers are immediately at a higher risk for bug bites. 

Steve Thought O’ The Day – I wonder if Mountain Dew attracts skeeters?

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Again, a happy anniversary today to MRN Publisher Bob Gough and his lovely, wife, Ellen.