How the Dodgers can get Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani
By Jason Reed
The execution:
Giancarlo Stanton:
After a decent holdout from a stubborn Giancarlo Stanton, the Los Angeles Dodgers may be able to get away with the Marlins paying some of Stanton’s salary. While the deal will still cost the Dodgers some elite prospects, in the grand scheme of things, bringing in the reigning NL MVP will be much more beneficial.
This deal would only work if the Marlins do absorb a good amount of Stanton’s contract. Which is fair, considering they are getting two of the Dodgers three best prospects alongside established big league guys in Joc Pederson and Hyun-Jin Ryu. A fair payment would be 50% the second and third seasons (to help resign Kershaw), 25% the next two seasons and 15% following that.
The Dodgers then get their guy and get him relatively cheap. Assuming they pay him everything this year, the Dodgers would only have to pay Giancarlo Stanton a combined $26 million for two seasons of work following 2018.
Shohei Ohtani:
This is where it gets tricky for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only being limited to $300,000 will hurt the team’s chances. However, the advertisement opportunities and massing Japanese market in Los Angeles may be enough to intrigue Ohtani.
Plus, the Dodgers could always tackle Ohtani like they did with Kenta Maeda. The front office can litter Ohtani’s small contract with various different bonus incentives that are easily reachable. Ohtani gets his West Coast demand, and although it is not a small market, he knows he will win and that he doesn’t have to be the face of the franchise while doing so.
Ohtani would sign with the Dodgers for three seasons.