Ohtani in the NL

[jumpngeorge]

Ohtani is going to be a free agent. The possibility exists that he will sign in the NL. Currently we’ve split him in two… Ohtani the hitter and Ohtani the pitcher. Originally teams than had Ohtani could start him as a hitter or as pitcher, but could have him as both at the same time. I proposed the he be allowed to be both at the same time, but this this radically changes his value, it was suggested that making a free agent in all leagues was unfair to his current owners and allowing him to be frozen while allowing him to be in 2 positions was unfair to everyone else. While I agree that our current rule is the best we can do given this history, if he’s signed by an NL club, we have an opportunity to go another way.

Let him be one player in 2 positions! He would have to count as 2 freezes, but think of what he would for in an auction! $60 at least! There may be times where he would be reservable as a pitcher and not as a hitter. Is the pitcher Ohtani reservable now?

[waters96]

Since I'm an Angels fan, I hope he remains with them in the American League. But you raise an interesting question we can take up if he signs with another team in the NL.

[geoflin]

Ohtani is currently treated as 2 players in Gibson where there also was/is no such issue. How and why was that decision made?

[jumpngeorge]

I think this is an opportunity to correct a mistake. The coolest part of Ohtani is that he is a hitter and pitcher. I think he should fill two slots and if he’s not able to pitch, like this season, he can be reserved in that role. His price will be crazy, because he would fill two positions normally. Folks who get him this year would have to get a pitcher off the waiver wire.

If we do this, should his salary go up $8 per season

[shoelessjoe]

The final sentence of your last post, George, is the crux of the issue in salary-cap fantasy baseball. In pleading a case "to correct a mistake" you want to create another.

Merging the Ohtanis creates an entity that will challenge salary caps. No one player is worth the money people are going to throw at Ohtani the hitter&pitcher, and while the winner can crow that he "won" the bidding the prize will be nothing more than fool's gold.

These leagues are long notorious for bidding players far beyond their values because there's an institutional greediness that comes with owning the best game's best as if were a combat medal. I acquired Mookie Betts last season at a salary of $48, which was at least $15 over his projected value. There were two other players over $40 last season, and both finished well back of the leaders.

In Betts' case, he exceeded the projection by a few dollars which was probably assisted to some degree by the move to second base. Yet his owner chose to trade Betts to me hoping the cap space would create flexibility with his roster. Now that I have him, he becomes a Topper who'll probably exceed $40 again which makes "topping" useless for a team trying to win. But they'll have Mookie at 2B. 

At least with one hitter and one pitcher, there's an opportunity that -- theoretically -- a team can acquire half-an-Ohtani and remain within the salary cap restraints and potentially build a team that can be competitive. To borrow a phrase from a football coach, "the fun is in the winning."  

Please, Mocksports, refrain from creating a monster player in the spirit of competition. In these league, one person, in our league receives a $4 salary bump annually.

[joeizzo]

We made the decision a few years ago to separate Ohtani into hitter and pitcher and I don't see us changing at this point.

Joe