DEAR READER, I can promise to be candid however, I cannot be impartial. Whether or not you’ve watched Major League Baseball (MLB), I am most certain you’ve heard of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani especially after he signed a ten-year 700-million-dollar contract with the Dodgers last December. The deal is eventually one of the largest contracts ever in professional sports. But the question still hangs—was it worth it?

Ohtani (29) has spent his first six years in the league with the Los Angeles Angels who got him on a bargain as he only earned 42 million dollars in his six-year stint with the team. At 23, he came to America already having achieved it all in Japan not being driven by money or fame but a mad obsession for the game that is almost incomprehensible.

“How do you think the value of life should be measured?”

The reason why the Angels got him cheap was because of international signing rules that the MLB had in place. The same limited his signing bonus to just over 2 million dollars and a minimum contact. But because of Ohtani’s desire to play in MLB, it did not matter that much. Also, in his six-year stint with the Angels was where Ohtani won two American League (AL) MVPs, he proved himself to be a consistently elite two-way player putting him already with the all-time greats in only his first six years.

Last December, Ohtani’s signing to the Dodgers broke headlines not only because of the sheer size of the contract but also because of the peculiar nature of it. Reading between the lines of his contract, you will also find it to be peculiar as he will only be paid 20 million dollars annually for the next ten years as the rest of his contract is deferred till the end of it. So, this begs the question “is he worth it?” How do you think the value of life should be measured?

Well dear reader, when calculating Ohtani’s value, he was not only measured for what he gave to the Dodgers in terms of talent, but the Dodgers were taking all of Ohtani and to an extent all of Japan with them. As not only Dodgers ticket sales were up but as well as advertising, merchandise and even bars back in Japan earn a lot just because Ohtani plays, with the term being coined the Ohtani effect. The Ohtani effect dates back to his days where the Angels made back everything they paid Ohtani even before he played his first game just because of the anticipation that fans in America and Japan have over this phenom.

So, if we go by what the Dodgers have assessed, then they’ve not only assessed Ohtani in his body of work but rather in his service potential. To the unacquainted, service potential refers to the expected benefits that an asset can give. This benefit comes from either holding and later on selling the asset or by using the asset in order to raise its value. Going by this the Dodgers simply made a bet that Ohtani would just simply get better from here and have the potential to be the greatest of all time.

If that’s how to determine the value of someone else’s life, then shouldn’t the greatest of all time be worth more? But if we do base it on one’s potential or value in the future, then what is the value of one’s present self? Is it just simple as betting it all on black? Alas, if we were to learn anything from this is that we have no one to bet on but ourselves.