Dear Mr. EFL Answer Man:
Although the salary for which he will be signed is unknown and perhaps too lucrative for an EFL team (although after Cottage dropped 25mil/year on Trout no one is off limits, I suppose) what will the league be able to do with Ohtani? Reports are that he could be a SP and also a DH or at least some kind of regular in the batting lineup. Would an EFL team need to decide which position to allocate him? Or would he be the first to break the traditional P or Positional player mold? I imagine the owner of the Wolverines is also interested in this answer since it has implications for his own Pitcher/Slugger (who presumably will stay off dirt bikes his season?) Bumgarner. Thank you for your insight into this matter.
Sincerely,
Flint Hill Front Office
Associate University Pastor
Director, Friends Leadership Program
Adjunct Faculty, College of Christian Studies
Twitter: @jrobjohn
Dear…ummm… Mr. Twitter: @jrobjohn
Your note contains several messages, some patent, some latent, and maybe even some subliminal. Let me respond to each.
PATENT MESSAGES:
1. Shohei Otani will first be available to EFL teams as a debutant, at the monthly meeting after his debut… unless, of course, he debuts in September, in which case he’ll first be available in the subsequent rookie draft. So there is no way he will be too lucrative for an EFL team this year or next. Once he hits EFL free agency — probably not until 2024 — we can worry about whether we can afford him. But I should note that both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are likely to be afforded by some EFL team(s) this year (whether they should be afforded or not) so maybe Otani will be in our range even in 2024.
2. Dave and I have discussed the Otani Affair. We are hoping to have a way to track Otani at both pitcher and hitter positions. The conceptual problems are soluble, I think, but the logistical problems may be another matter. We hope to have info for you in a timely manner, but it will have to come after we’ve worked out whether we are changing our data update processes (which we are working on).
LATENT MESSAGES:
1. Bumgarner will not be allowed to hit in Old Detroit. We might be willing to liberate him to a team that would let Madison be Madison, with similar value coming back.
2. Maybe you’d be just the team to liberate Bumgarner, since you were gearing up for a big bid on Otani.
SUBLIMINAL
1. What do you have against John that you would urge the Twitterverse to “just rob” him? (JRob being twitterese for “just rob,” of course. Wouldn’t it be more fitting to gang up on the Alleghenys with an @jrobmark handle? Or does this go back to your childhood?
2. How can you do four jobs and perform well in all of them? Are you sort of a third place University Pastor, Friends Leadership Director, and Adjunct Faculty member, too? Not that there’s anything wrong with third place… It’s better than 8th, for example.
A former and wise colleague of mine in Sioux Falls once told me, the more titles you have and the more keys you have, the actual less power you have. At the time I kind of liked having a big wad of keys. Less so now.
I can assure you I have no power, though my key ring is not especially large…though I have seen first hand Robin Baker’s key ring. It is in fact very cumbersome, though his title is very simple – just one word long.
I should amend the previous comment. I do have some power, but I think it’s the kind others would not envy.
What I meant to convey was sympathy for anyone with many titles and keys. People think you must be really important. But it’s usually the opposite. Robin is the exception maybe. But then maybe he has a key fetish. What? I didn’t write that.