The news of Shohei Ohtani agreeing to terms on a 10-year contract worth $700 million to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the sports world into a frenzy on Saturday afternoon. Bob Costas is aware of the impact this signing – which keeps Ohtani in a major U.S. market – will have on the game of baseball.
Dan Patrick welcomed Costas onto his program on Monday morning to offer his perspectives on the record-breaking contract for the two-way superstar. Costas said that the Dodgers will be able to amortize the $700 million investment, a monetary figure that is a record for the most guaranteed earnings in a professional sports contract. Costas was asked the Angels lack of success and answered questions about the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum selection process as well. By the end of the interview, Patrick wondered whether or not Bob Costas had ever been asked to serve as the general manager of a baseball team.
“No, no, no, no,” Costas replied, “and neither was I ever broached despite all the talk about being Commissioner of baseball, and I always said, ‘I’m neither interested nor qualified, so forget it.’”
Patrick believes that Costas could have been a really good Commissioner had he landed the role. Conversely, Costas does not think himself to be qualified in that the role contains negotiations that require a certain kind of merit and temperament. Rob Manfred has served as the Commissioner of the league for the last nine seasons, and despite criticism from some fans, the game continues to prove a lucrative endeavor and attained bolstered attendance concurrent with rule changes meant to hasten play and augment offensive output last season.
“The analogy I always used was, ‘If you think a particular columnist is astute politically, that doesn’t necessarily mean you think he or she should run for president or be a Supreme Court justice,’” Bob Costas said. “Their role is to offer thoughts and people weigh it for whatever it’s worth. I was a commentator about baseball, not just calling games, but about the state of the game. I even wrote a book about it, and if people appreciated that, well that was my contribution.”
