Letters to the Editor: With Shohei Ohtani going to the Dodgers, does MLB need to rein in super-rich teams?

To the editor: A cosmic coincidence? With Shohei Ohtani set to sign the richest sports contract in history with the Dodgers, this week marks the 73rd anniversary of Major League Baseball repealing a rule that had been passed four years earlier to prevent wealthy clubs from buying up all the premier ballplayer talent.

That rule spoke to the New York Yankees’ decades-long dominance after the team had assembled a singularly pricey, talent-rich roster headed by the legendary Babe Ruth. By 1930 Ruth commanded a contract that paid him the unheard-of sum of $80,000 for a season, topping the U.S. president’s annual salary by $5,000.

When Ruth was asked if he thought he deserved to be making more money than President Herbert Hoover, he said, “Why not? I had a better year than he did.”

As a Dodger, Ohtani’s annual salary will be dozens of times that of President Biden’s. Even most Democrats would concede that Ohtani had a better year than Biden — and is a good bet to do so again in 2024.

Whether MLB rules should restrain wealthy teams from hogging premier talent remains debatable.

Devra Mindell, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: Someone will end up paying Ohtani’s $700-million tab.

How about increased Dodgers game ticket prices ? Higher food and beverage prices? More for parking at Dodger Stadium?

And, if that’s not enough, it’s only a matter of time before Major League Baseball follows the National Basketball Assn. and creates a meaningless midseason “mini World Series.” That way, fans can be conned into forking over even more money to help incentivize the players to do what they’re already incredibly well paid to do.

Cynical? Perhaps. Prophetic? We’ll see.

Marshall Barth, Encino

..

To the editor: As fine a ball player as Ohtani is, I find what he will be paid obscene, given all the unhoused, unfed, uneducated and medically underserved people in our community.

Susan Greenberg, Los Angeles