The most valuable athlete in the world – 12/11/2023 – Sandro Macedo

Would you know which athlete has the most valuable contract in the world, dear reader? A tip, it’s not Mbappé, Cris Ronaldo or Messi. Don’t even think about Neymar das Arabias.

The man of the moment is Shohei Ohtani, from the American Baseball League (MLB), who has just signed a ten-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for US$700 million — something around R$3.5 billion, which I could pay for Vasco, Botafogo and Cruzeiro’s SAFs, hire singer Lil Gabi and watch all the shows on Taylor Swift’s tour in situ, and I would still have change.

Ohtani’s contract is bigger than that of any NFL star, like the beloved Patrick Mahomes, or the NBA. The amount even exceeds that of Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, who signed with the Arab league for US$600 million.

There is also the fact that Ohtani is 29 years old, which means that the mega contract is valid until he hits the door of 40. And, icing on the cake, the Japanese signs with the Dodgers after ending his five-year stint with the other team in Los Angeles , the Angels. He’s basically leaving São Paulo to join Palmeiras, or vice versa — let’s leave Corinthians out of this comparison, they only sell to Zenit.

And why is Ohtani worth so much? Well, it wasn’t enough that the young man is an excellent hitter, he’s also a great pitcher. Playing in both positions is something that many teenagers do, but, when they become professional, they end up opting for one of the positions. To find some comparison, experts cite none other than Babe Ruth, the Pelé of baseball, who played between the 1910s and 1930s and was successful in both roles, throwing the ball and picking up the bat to hit.

Ohtani’s talent has already earned him two MVP awards, the most valuable player of the season, from the “American League” (which brings together half of the teams in the league, the others are in the “National League”).

Ohtani’s career until reaching the MLB, the American league, is presented in the documentary “Shohei Ohtani: Além do Sonho”, available on Star+ streaming. There it is possible to discover that he could have signed with an American team at the age of 19, but he preferred to spend four seasons in the Japanese league, precisely to show that he could perform well in both positions — it would be difficult for an MLB team to give such a chance to someone so young. .

He himself explains part of the success in the dual role. “[Quando rebato,] I wonder what would hinder me if I were the pitcher. And when I throw, it’s the opposite. I do what bothers me as a hitter.”

This period in Japan turned him into the main Japanese sportsman (baseball is the number 1 sport in the country). Idolatry has already been the subject of a great report in this Sheetsigned by Alex Sabino, shortly before the Tokyo Games.

Looking at Ohtani’s qualities, this scribe even remembered the legendary bugle that Gisele Bündchen gave to her then-husband Tom Brady’s New England Patriots attack after a Super Bowl defeat — Brady was the quarterback, the guy who threw the balls. “My husband can’t throw and catch the ball at the same time,” he commented. Ok, the sport is different, but doing two such different roles with mastery, for now, is just Ohtani.

Commentators, who call the Japanese man a unicorn (a mythical creature), and former players believe that he can cause a change in the sport itself, influencing other young people to develop both functions.

NFL in Itaquera?

Still in the world of American sports, this week, we may receive the news that Brazil will host an NFL game next season. After the visit of league directors to some stadiums, Corinthians is the favorite to host the match. This scribe believes that many athletes in the current Corinthians squad could do well with “field goals”, that shot that has to go over the crossbar.

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