This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, Winners! Hope you’re having a fantastic day today. Let’s promise to not talk about the Wizards losing by 45 points last night, alright? Alright.
Instead, I’m (somehow) more upset about Shohei Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers. The $700 million deal we were all so impressed by over the weekend really isn’t that. Well, I mean, it is. But it’s more the Dodgers just bought themselves a superstar with Afterpay.
Ohtani’s contract with Los Angeles is unprecedented. A whopping $680 million of the two-way superstar’s contract will come in deferred dollars, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Shohei Ohtani's $700 million contract calls for him to be paid only $2 million a year for the next 10 seasons, with $680 million deferred until the end of the deal, sources confirm to ESPN.
The CBT hit on the contract is going to be around $46 million, a huge discount for L.A.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2023
The Dodgers will simply pay Ohtani $20 million over the next 10 years (!!!!) and will pay the other $680 million out when his deal is done.
Bobby Bonilla Day can’t hold a candle to this. He’ll be paid $68 million annually by the Dodgers from 2034 to 2043 (are we sure that’s a real year?) and have $700 million in his pocket by the time he’s 50 years old. He won’t be playing for the Dodgers anymore by then. That’s the part that has me livid, man.
The Dodgers get to have the best player in baseball through his prime without actually paying for it until later. LA will pay him like he’s a scrub for 10 years. The team is also going to stack the deck and sign other talented players to an already talented team to play with him.
We can’t argue this is unfair — it’s perfectly legal in Major League Baseball to have deferred money contracts. And, ultimately, Ohtani wanted to do this. It’s smart on his part. He makes $50 million in endorsements annually, so he can certainly afford it. Plus, he gets to dodge L.A. taxes on the bulk of his salary (WHICH IS NOT A GOOD THING. PAY TAXES, FOLKS. ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE RICH).
But, man. Doesn’t this feel like a violation of the spirit of the game?
Like, y’all remember how mad you were when Kevin Durant went to the Warriors, right? Now imagine Durant doing that on a mid-level exception deal. For 10 years. That’s what this is.
Nah, man. This deal is bad for baseball. The league needs to stop this from ever happening again. Too bad the next CBA negotiation isn’t until 2026.
Ummm…Dolphins?
The Dolphins made history against the Titans, folks. The wrong kind of history, to be sure. But still history!
I’ve never seen a team blow a 14-point lead with three minutes left in a game. I know I haven’t because it’s actually never been done before. My colleague Charles Curtis writes the Titans only had a 0.4 percent of winning this game. And it happened.
“This one is a fun one: It’s the Miami Dolphins blowing a 14-point lead to the Tennessee Titans with just over three minutes left in Monday night’s game. It was an improbable comeback, one that seemed like the Titans had a zero percent chance at.
But nope. It was 0.4 percent. And the chart tells the tale, with the Titans’ line suddenly soaring upward.“
The win probability chart there doesn’t even do this epic collapse justice. The Dolphins had no business losing this game.
Miami needed this game. After the Jets coming up next week, it has two straight against the Cowboys and the Ravens — two extremely tough teams. This loss just gave the Bills a bit of hope in still winning the division. A long shot, sure. But a shot nonetheless.
Tighten up, Miami.
More LSU drama
Kim Mulkey is just the best, isn’t she? Another day, another bit of drama surrounding her LSU program.
Guard Kateri Poole is apparently no longer with the team. Why? No idea. Mulkey told reporters that she’s out and won’t be coming back. Our Meghan Hall has more here:
“LSU has made national headlines recently with the sudden benching of its biggest star, Angel Reese, and head coach Kim Mulkey’s response to questions about Reese’s whereabouts. Reese returned to the lineup in late November after a brief mental health break, but that hasn’t shifted the spotlight from the team.
Now, additional questions are brewing, including one that doesn’t quite have an answer: why is Kateri Poole no longer with the team?
Poole was a critical reason that LSU won a national championship last season and a part of Angel Reese’s decision to spend her time playing in the Bayou.”
It’s a shame we’ll probably never get answers about this — at least, not from Mulkey. But, hopefully, Poole is alright.
READ MORE: Here’s everything we know about Kateri Poole’s mysterious absence.
Quick hits: The “Italian Stallion” … The Dolphins owe somebody $9.2 million … and more
— Everything about Tommy DeVito is such a meme. He calls his agent the “Italian Stallion.” I’m not making that up. Charles Curtis has more.
— The Dolphins epic collapse cost a survivor pool player a chance at $9.2 million. I’d have to fight. Ben Fawkes has more.
— Four quarterbacks in the top 10?!?! ESPN’s latest mock draft is getting crazy. Charles Curtis has more.
— Patrick Mahomes revealed his biggest regret from his postgame tantrum. Andrew Joseph has more.
— Getting a win after throwing a Thicc-Six like this is crazy. Cory Woodruff has more.
— Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s holiday pictures are adorable. Here’s Cory again.
That’s all, folks! Happy Tuesday! Make it a good one. Let’s chat again tomorrow. Until then, peace!
-Sykes ✌️