Steve, very brave of you to voice your opinion on the “Ohtani tax dodge” situation. Especially considering your boss wrote the article yesterday with the exact opposite opinion. You got guts Steve! Keep up the great work!
Yes, I think his view was pretty spot on. I guess the real question is, if it were your team that signed him, would you still be mad? I on my part would understand the anger.
Balk – I think the bottom line is MLB would prefer the Yanks vs the Dodgers in the WS as often as possible, and fans of the other 28 teams would hate that.
I don’t understand how he’s, “spot on”. How is this ducking any luxury tax? They’re still paying the tax, the only thing that’s being deferred is the actual payment.
The only way you can argue that this is circumventing luxury tax is if you disagree with the time-value of money.
My problem is really with the rule, I don’t care how many before him have done this, it’s still not to the scale we see here…and the fact he’s dodging payroll taxes. Right now he should be subjected to the California tax code for the $46 mill. or arguably 70 mill, instead he falls under a different bracket with the 2 million, thus when the deferred payments come to fruition, he can move back to Japan or another state to dodge the tax.
Would you be ok with the Giants signing him? I’m going out on a limb with your handle assuming you’re from California, as I lived in the Central Valley(Merced) area for 40 years.
I’m neither pro or against. However, I would like to hear more discussion regarding Bauer. My overall point, maybe not worded perfectly, was that I’m shocked nobody is even talking about it.
Bonds was blackballed coming off a great season because he would be such a headache. Bauer had a solid season in NPB and likely would be an even bigger headache.
Yeah, he made the mistake of hooking up with a con artist. MLB was looking for a way to get rid of him after he made them look stupid about spider tac though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s kept out.
I think that says it right there. IMO MLB teams see Bauer as pure poison, and want nothing to do with him. So In that regard, no team is expressing even the slightest interest in him. The result being that nobody is talking about any possibility of signing him.
The hot stove functions on the expressed, or perceived, interest in players by teams, and the assumptions, predictions, and logical fits that outlets report. I think the fact that no one is saying anything about Bauer says volumes.
Regarding the question about the posting fee for Yamamoto:
“Steve Adams
2:07 Easiest way to remember is it’s $9.375MM for the first $50MM + 15% of anything thereafter. So $46.875MM on a $300MM guarantee or $49.875MM on a $320MM guarantee.
I do wonder if all the $300MM speculation is *including* the posting fee.
2:08 I’d be surprised if someone spent 300 AND that near-$50MM posting fee, but hey, who knows”
Does the posting fee count under the CBT? I don’t know what the CBA says about it, and I can think of arguments either way.
I can’t find anything specific in about 5 mins of searching, but my guess would be because the money is heading out of the MLB, the posting fees don’t count towards the CBT.
The fact that Ohtani’s CBT hit is the highest ever, and other teams have gamed the system is irrelevant to me. What I don’t like is that these loopholes exist for any team to artificially lower the CBT. Having loopholes to lower the hit negates the intent of the CBT.
I can guarantee that small market teams will never be signing a player to a deal deferring hundreds of millions of dollars to mitigate the tax hit. IMO if a team signs someone to a deal, big or small, the CBT should be based on the AAV only.
Matt (Oceanside) at 1:54 mentioned commentary attacking MLBTR staff re Ohtani. I find that disheartening and wrong.
Yes, I had my little depressive snit over Steve recently which I sincerely apologize for. It was mostly a joke horribly executed in my depression.
But attacking the staff here is just wrong. They do a great job.
Please do better…..
Comment sections in general are getting worse with personal attacks. Noticing it more & more lately over at The Athletic. Just idiots straight out calling the writers abusive names, that they write like crap,etc etc. Maybe it’s a carryover from the Twitter sportsfan mentality. It’s very irritating though.
Steve, very brave of you to voice your opinion on the “Ohtani tax dodge” situation. Especially considering your boss wrote the article yesterday with the exact opposite opinion. You got guts Steve! Keep up the great work!
Yes, I think his view was pretty spot on. I guess the real question is, if it were your team that signed him, would you still be mad? I on my part would understand the anger.
Balk – I think the bottom line is MLB would prefer the Yanks vs the Dodgers in the WS as often as possible, and fans of the other 28 teams would hate that.
I don’t understand how he’s, “spot on”. How is this ducking any luxury tax? They’re still paying the tax, the only thing that’s being deferred is the actual payment.
The only way you can argue that this is circumventing luxury tax is if you disagree with the time-value of money.
My problem is really with the rule, I don’t care how many before him have done this, it’s still not to the scale we see here…and the fact he’s dodging payroll taxes. Right now he should be subjected to the California tax code for the $46 mill. or arguably 70 mill, instead he falls under a different bracket with the 2 million, thus when the deferred payments come to fruition, he can move back to Japan or another state to dodge the tax.
Today was Steve’s last day.
LMAO!
#FreeSteve
Is Trevor Bauer going to get an opportunity?
Could be a major steal for a team willing to take the risk.
Would you be ok with the Giants signing him? I’m going out on a limb with your handle assuming you’re from California, as I lived in the Central Valley(Merced) area for 40 years.
I’m neither pro or against. However, I would like to hear more discussion regarding Bauer. My overall point, maybe not worded perfectly, was that I’m shocked nobody is even talking about it.
Do you think Bauer deserves a shot?
I personally think he does, who doesn’t make mistakes in life?
Bonds was blackballed coming off a great season because he would be such a headache. Bauer had a solid season in NPB and likely would be an even bigger headache.
No, Bauer doesn’t deserve a shot.
Many people think Bauer deserves a shot. It’s what’s in the needle that differs.
Yeah, he made the mistake of hooking up with a con artist. MLB was looking for a way to get rid of him after he made them look stupid about spider tac though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s kept out.
“… nobody is even talking about it.”
I think that says it right there. IMO MLB teams see Bauer as pure poison, and want nothing to do with him. So In that regard, no team is expressing even the slightest interest in him. The result being that nobody is talking about any possibility of signing him.
The hot stove functions on the expressed, or perceived, interest in players by teams, and the assumptions, predictions, and logical fits that outlets report. I think the fact that no one is saying anything about Bauer says volumes.
I’d be curious how a Bauer poll would turn out?
GBS, if by “would be a headache” you actually mean is a roused up narcissist jerk, then correct.
Regarding the question about the posting fee for Yamamoto:
“Steve Adams
2:07 Easiest way to remember is it’s $9.375MM for the first $50MM + 15% of anything thereafter. So $46.875MM on a $300MM guarantee or $49.875MM on a $320MM guarantee.
I do wonder if all the $300MM speculation is *including* the posting fee.
2:08 I’d be surprised if someone spent 300 AND that near-$50MM posting fee, but hey, who knows”
Does the posting fee count under the CBT? I don’t know what the CBA says about it, and I can think of arguments either way.
I can’t find anything specific in about 5 mins of searching, but my guess would be because the money is heading out of the MLB, the posting fees don’t count towards the CBT.
The fact that Ohtani’s CBT hit is the highest ever, and other teams have gamed the system is irrelevant to me. What I don’t like is that these loopholes exist for any team to artificially lower the CBT. Having loopholes to lower the hit negates the intent of the CBT.
I can guarantee that small market teams will never be signing a player to a deal deferring hundreds of millions of dollars to mitigate the tax hit. IMO if a team signs someone to a deal, big or small, the CBT should be based on the AAV only.
Matt (Oceanside) at 1:54 mentioned commentary attacking MLBTR staff re Ohtani. I find that disheartening and wrong.
Yes, I had my little depressive snit over Steve recently which I sincerely apologize for. It was mostly a joke horribly executed in my depression.
But attacking the staff here is just wrong. They do a great job.
Please do better…..
Comment sections in general are getting worse with personal attacks. Noticing it more & more lately over at The Athletic. Just idiots straight out calling the writers abusive names, that they write like crap,etc etc. Maybe it’s a carryover from the Twitter sportsfan mentality. It’s very irritating though.