Cubs must learn lesson from Dodgers making mind-blowing amount off Shohei Ohtani

The first year of the marriage between Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers ended in a champagne-soaked visitor's clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. One season together, one championship secured.

That was the hope when ownership and president of baseball operations lured Ohtani to LA last offseason with a ten-year, $700 million deal that deferred $680 million until after the deal concludes. The front office capitalized on the short-term cost savings, investing in the roster and building a juggernaut that was capable of overcoming a staggering amount of injuries en route to their second title in four years.

You can pick apart the contract structure and the deferred money all you want, but a new report suggests the Dodgers are well on their way to pulling one over on the rest of the league. According to AJ Pierzynski, the organization brought in $120 million in partnerships and sales related to Ohtani - a drastic jump off what the Angels, his former team, managed (reportedly in the low tens of millions).

That puts the Dodgers well on their way to paying for the contract - between the new sponsorship deals that came with Ohtani to the sea of Ohtani jerseys and merchandise - the money-making avenues seem endless. Throw in a World Series championship for good measure and it's hard to see how this could have gone any better for Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are content to sit on the sidelines and watch the big boys make their pitches to Juan Soto - who could aim for Ohtani's deal in pursuit of the largest free-agent guarantee ever this winter. Even when Chicago isn't skipping out entirely on pitching these players and they put an offer out there, it always seems to come up well short of the end price - a damning indictment for a franchise worth more than $5 billion.

Cubs missed on Shohei Ohtani and aren't expected to take a run at superstar outfielder Juan Soto in free agency this winter

Even national writers have noted the team's cost-conscious approach to roster-building. In the last week, Jeff Passan suggested he'd heard nothing to indicate the team planned on spending big this winter, despite a decent amount of payroll flexibility even after Cody Bellinger opted into his $27.5 million player option for 2025.

At the end of the year, Craig Counsell himself said the expectations need to be different in Wrigleyville. Building a fringe wild card contender of a roster isn't going to cut it. But I would ask this: what's the quickest way to jump from 83 wins to 90? Invest in the types of players that dramatically improve your club - don't just hope for players to exceed expectations and outperform your projections.

Star players fill the seats. They sell merchandise and draw corporate sponsors to Wrigley Field. But the message we're getting from Jed Hoyer and Tom Ricketts is that good is good enough - and bringing the best players in the game to Chicago isn't a top priority any longer.