LOS ANGELES — Unsurprisingly, there is only one true baseball accomplishment for Shohei Ohtani. It's the guy with the candy bar, legendary appetite, and 714 home runs.
So the most high-profile matchup of the National League Championship Series isn't really fair to Mets all-around star Francisco Lindor. Lindor competed admirably with Ohtani in the NL MVP race for five solid months, but 1) Lindor lost due to a rare injury; 2) Ohtani continued to participate for two weeks.
The MVP race will be unanimously decided by Ohtani, unless there is someone among the 30 voters who strongly dislikes designated hitters. That would be as unlikely as the Mets making a surprising and unexpected run to the top four in baseball here.
But now, heading into this NLCS, Lindor may actually have an edge among the biggest superstars. Ohtani has shown himself to be a winner now that he's moved closer to Hollywood, but frankly, since he hit that majestic home run off Dylan Cease in Game 1 of the Dodgers' Division Series that just ended, , now he is doing almost nothing and is away from the game.
(Dodgers fans, look away.)
He received a two-word text in Game 5 from a trusted National League scout known for his brevity. “Otani stinks”
This is a bit of an exaggeration, but let me put it another way. Ohtani (1.143 OPS), who performed well against the Mets this year, looked visibly lost in Game 5 (0-for-4, three strikeouts). That game was won by Hernandez's Kike and Teoscar's two home runs, $375.6 million (including posting fees) free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a trio of shutdown relievers who represent the true strength of the Dodgers right now. .
To be fair, Lindor looks like the better player at this point. He almost literally carried a Mets team on his back (it was bad, but it's clearly better now) and led the Mets to the postseason they never made it to with the first great home run in franchise history (Pete Alonso before coming out on top by saying: Milwaukee held my beer and Lindor was back on top by sending the Mets into this big market, big star NLCS with a bang).
So, in the biggest matchup between the National League's $300 million teams, Lindor beats the guy playing Babe Ruth.
But these aren't really $300 million teams due to Dodgers injuries and the 2023 Mets fire sale. The Dodgers have a whopping 10 pitchers out of their 40-man roster with injuries, and the Mets have two former stars (Max. Scherzer and Justin Verlander).
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These two big market teams spent a lot of money, but most of it got here thanks to some very smart decisions. The Mets signed Sean Manaea and Luis Severino to rebuild a cost-effective rotation, added Jose Iglesias by one song ($1.5 million to be exact), and extended the lineup to suit Mark Vientos. I was given a promotion.
The Dodgers' most cost-effective play turned out to be Ohtani himself, who signed a $700 million contract, a gift that keeps on giving to Los Angeles. The 97 percent deferred contract is semi-officially worth L.A.'s $400 million deal. Suppose Guggenheim Partners, which owns and invests professionally in the Dodgers, earns a 4 percent return on $680 million in deferred funds. Masu. A monkey with a dartboard (and probably even me) can beat this.
The people at the Guggenheim Museum must be thanking their lucky stars. Even though the Dodgers are the perennial champions of contract deferrals, one Dodgers big man claimed to me that they “don't have the balls” to suggest deferring 97 percent of someone's money. They think that if they can make, on average (for them) 10 percent on deferrals, that's more than enough to pay for itself anyway. (I'll take their word for it.)
And that doesn't even take into account the extra money Ohtani has earned them through his various off-the-field efforts and overall goodwill. And after pitting 45 miles down Interstate 5 in Anaheim, Ohtani owns the town.
The super-delayed contract is not a problem for Ohtani, as he is said to be earning about the same amount, more than $60 million a year, from off-field endorsements (Related article on New Balance). However, the Dodgers won the financial battle, as reigning Queen's Champion Lindor's $341 million contract is just another big contract.
Another notable matchup could also be against the Mets, at least for now. Freddie Freeman and Alonso are two of the toughest guys going forward, but Freeman is currently playing on one ankle. And Alonso has changed his approach and is enthusiastic.
The Mets still have a huge advantage in the rotation, even if the clutch multi-continental courtship of Yamamoto failed miserably. The Dodgers' rotation currently has less depth than the women paraded around Rodeo Drive. But if it's a bullpen game, Mets fans should look away.
“The Mets' pen will be their downfall. A short series might be manageable, but seven series is too much to overcome,” my scout says. “They have Mets magic right now, but the Mets lack physical strength.”
In the most high-profile matchup, the Mets look to be competitive or better at the moment. But the famous Dodgers have a slight advantage in the less obvious spots, and that's what we're worried about right now.
