
Cover contenders: Hypothetical stars for NCAA College Football’s 11-year hiatus
More Videos
Published
10 months agoon
By
admin-
David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterMay 16, 2024, 11:15 AM ET
Close- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN in 2012.
- Graduate of the University of Delaware.
After 11 lonely years, our long national nightmare is over.
EA Sports officially released a new cover of its famed NCAA football game this week, the first in the series since NCAA Football 2014 came out in 2013. Better yet, the rosters will be (mostly) complete with actual current college football players, thanks to the NCAA’s 2021 decision to allow name, image and likeness contracts.
Of course, the game’s return doesn’t make up for the time we spent without it — the legendary players we missed, the defining moments never to be captured in ones and zeroes, and the countless number of times you could’ve blown off a week of work to take UL-Monroe to a College Football Playoff National Championship.
While we can’t create a time machine to fix those missed opportunities, we can provide at least a little revisionist history, by working back through the past 11 years to determine who would have earned the honor of gracing the cover of each version.
First, a quick bit of context: During the game’s run (from 1993, first as “Bill Walsh College Football” through 2013), the cover image couldn’t include an active player. Typically, the new game sported a cover model who had flourished the prior season in college but had already left for the NFL — Denard Robinson, Robert Griffin III, Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow, to name a few — leaving them free to sell their images to EA. But here, we’re imagining a world where the NCAA allowed NIL starting in 2014, making all players eligible for the cover image, even if they still had eligibility remaining. This also means that players such as Joe Burrow who took his talents to the NFL after his breakout season, would not make the cut as a hypothetical cover athlete.
With that said, here are our picks for the cover of each of the 11 missing seasons of EA Sports NCAA Football.
NCAA Football 15
Expected release: Summer 2014
The contenders: Florida State QB Jameis Winston, Florida State WR Rashad Greene, Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon, Navy QB Keenan Reynolds, Clemson DE Vic Beasley
It’s a shame the game disappeared after the 2013 season, as NCAA Football 15 would’ve had its share of great options of incredibly popular first-year NFL players, from Aaron Donald to Jadeveon Clowney to Mike Evans to Kelvin Benjamin. The crop of returning players was a bit thinner, with some emerging stars like Gordon (1,609 yards, 12 TDs in 2013) and Reynolds (2,403 total yards, 39 total TDs) just ahead of their prime. Mariota would go on to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy, but he entered that season in the shadow of Winston, who would have been the obvious choice if not for a series of off-field issues, including a sexual assault allegation, that likely would have deterred EA from choosing him.
The cover: Greene. Let’s split the difference here. No Winston on the cover, but the honor instead can go to another member of the FSU national championship team. Greene was one of the true leaders of that 2013 squad, and he followed it up with an equally impressive 2014 in which he caught 99 passes for 1,365 yards and seven touchdowns.
NCAA Football 16
Expected release: Summer 2015
The contenders: Ohio State DE Joey Bosa, RB Ezekiel Elliott, QBs J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones, Arizona LB Scooby Wright, Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey, Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott, Alabama RB Derrick Henry
Mariota, Amari Cooper, Todd Gurley and Landon Collins all would’ve been in the mix before the NIL era began, but the 2015 class offered one of the most diverse and deep lists of returning players worthy of cover status. Ohio State won the national championship in the first College Football Playoff in 2014, and the litany of returning stars — Bosa, Elliott, Jones, Barrett, Braxton Miller, Von Bell — was incredible. Wright’s unique skill set made him an ideal cover model, while Ramsey might’ve been the most dynamic athlete in college football at the time. Prescott warrants consideration, too, for getting Mississippi State to the top of the first CFP rankings, and had the world known what a star he’d later become in the NFL, he’d probably be the obvious pick here.
The cover: Bosa. We love the idea of Jones, Miller and Barrett sharing the cover after Ohio State won a natty with its third-string QB, but we also envision Urban Meyer putting a stop to any additional media scrutiny — even in the lighthearted form of a video game cover — of his delicate QB situation entering the 2015 season. Instead, Bosa seems like the safe solution. He was dominant in the Buckeyes’ title run in 2014, racking up 13.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss, and it was clear entering the 2015 campaign that he was destined to be an early NFL draft pick. Plus, it’s good to give the defensive guys some love.
NCAA Football 17
Expected release: Summer 2016
The contenders: Clemson QB Deshaun Watson, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield, LSU RB Leonard Fournette, Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, Florida State RB Dalvin Cook
This was a rare season in which the talent returning far exceeded the names headed to the NFL, so EA surely would’ve been pleased to have NIL open the doors to a better cover option than (no offense) Jared Goff or Eli Apple. In any case, the college options were plentiful and all deserving. Mayfield had thrown for 3,700 yards. McCaffrey was an all-purpose Superman. Cook was as electric of a runner as there was in the sport. Fournette was a high school legend who finally seemed poised to live up to the recruiting hype. Watson had come within a hair of leading Clemson past the vaunted Alabama machine for a national title.
The cover: McCaffrey. It’s a tough call between the Stanford star and the emergent Watson, who’d go on to win a national title over Alabama at the end of the 2016 season. But at the time, there was no more remarkable talent in the sport than McCaffrey, who was a unanimous All-American after amassing 2,019 rushing yards, 645 receiving yards and 1,070 return yards for a truly astonishing tally of 3,864 all-purpose yards — 613 more than the previous record held by Barry Sanders.
NCAA Football 18
Expected release: Summer 2017
The contenders: Mayfield, Penn State RB Saquon Barkley, Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, Alabama S Minkah Fitzpatrick
Mayfield had just posted his second straight season as a Heisman finalist, throwing for 40 touchdowns. Barkley had rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 18 TDs. Fitzpatrick was an emerging superstar on Alabama’s defense. There were good options. But there was only one obvious choice.
The cover: Jackson. His skill set would’ve put him among the pantheon of the greatest video game stars of all time, alongside Tecmo Bo Jackson, Jeremy Roenick in NHL 94, Bald Bull from “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!” and former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jeff D’Amico, who we all once used to throw a perfect game against our college roommate in MLB ’99. Every play with NCAA Football Lamar Jackson would’ve been a deep ball or a scramble, and he’d finish a season with 20,000 yards because there would’ve been no answer for him.
NCAA Football 19
Expected release: Summer 2018
The contenders: Stanford RB Bryce Love, Houston DE Ed Oliver, Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa, Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor, FAU RB Devin Singletary, Arizona State WR N’Keal Harry, Clemson’s defensive line of Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell, Austin Bryant and Dexter Lawrence
It seems like an oversight that Mayfield spent three seasons dominating the Big 12 without ever cracking our hypothetical NCAA Football cover, but alas, he’d moved on to doing insurance commercials in a Cleveland Browns uniform by now. Fitzpatrick, Jackson, Barkley, Derwin James and Rashaad Penny were all off to the NFL, too, though all would’ve been exceptional cover options under the old system. Instead, the battle for the cover starts with a number of elite backs. Love was fresh off rushing for 2,118 yards and 19 TDs. Singletary had a little Heisman hype, including a model race car mailed out to Heisman voters to push his campaign. Taylor had turned in the first of three straight seasons with more than 1,900 yards rushing in 2017. Oliver would’ve been a great option, too. He was a dominant force with his own Heisman campaign (a bobblehead on a horse). But the honor likely comes down to two options: The ascendant QB at Alabama or the dominant defensive front at Clemson, each member returning for one last ride that eventually ended with a national title.
The cover: Tagovailoa. As much fun as it would’ve been to see the Clemson D-linemen don their famous Power Rangers costumes on the game’s cover, the buzz in the summer of 2018 was all about Tagovailoa. He’d come off the bench at halftime to rescue Alabama from the abyss in the national championship game, making him a rare combination of genuine star power and unknown commodity. The only problem with the choice is the reaction it would’ve undoubtedly engendered from Nick Saban, who wasn’t entirely eager to stoke the flames of the supposed QB battle between Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts that summer. Of course, if NIL rules were in place in 2018, does anyone think Hurts would’ve stuck around to ride the bench anyway?
NCAA Football 20
Expected release: Summer 2019
The contenders: Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Travis Etienne, Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor, Purdue WR Rondale Moore, Ohio State DE Chase Young, Oklahoma State WR Tylan Wallace, Alabama QB Tagovailoa and WR Jerry Jeudy, LSU DB Greedy Williams
Lawrence and Etienne made for a worthy tandem, both fresh off a national title with two years left at Clemson. Moore was a revelation as a freshman, electric as a receiver and a return man. Young was the second coming of Bosa, a force of nature at the line of scrimmage who racked up 9.5 sacks and 14.5 TFL, presaging an even bigger season in 2019. Tagovailoa and Jeudy had just been dismissed by Clemson in the title game, but there was still ample hype surrounding Alabama.
The cover: Lawrence. Not since Herschel Walker in 1980 had a freshman seemed so destined to win multiple championships as Lawrence at this point. He’d taken over as Clemson’s starter in Week 5 of the 2018 season, posted dominant numbers, then led the Tigers to a national title while annihilating the unstoppable force of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alas, it was not to be, and by the end of 2019, Lawrence’s title team didn’t even seem nearly so dominant anymore after Joe Burrow & Co. set the standard in college football. Still, Lawrence was a bona fide star, and if there’s anything we’ve learned from lifestyle magazines over the years, it’s that hair as glorious as his belongs on the cover.
NCAA Football 21
Expected release: Summer 2020
The contenders: LSU CB Derek Stingley and WR JaMarr Chase, Alabama WR DeVonta Smith, Oregon OL Penei Sewell, Penn State LB Micah Parsons, Minnesota CB Antoine Winfield Jr., Ohio State QB Justin Fields
If scrubbing Lamar Jackson from the college football video game record books is the biggest loss from NCAA Football’s 11-year hiatus, the lack of a 2020 edition is a close second. It’s hard to overstate how many units would’ve sold at the height of the COVID-19 shutdown, when it looked for much of the summer as if no actual college football would be played. Instead of going for walks, starting home renovation projects or spending quality time with immediate family, we could’ve wasted away those long, tumultuous days challenging LSU’s supremacy with plucky upstart Grayson McCall and Coastal Carolina and built a dynasty. Alas, it was not meant to be.
This also might be the year when EA was most convinced to go back to the old process and select a player who starred in the prior college football season but was now off to the NFL, because Burrow absolutely deserved a cover after his 2019 campaign. If we’re sticking with our precedent of returning players, however, his LSU teammates Stingley and Chase made for exceptional consolation prizes. Stingley starred as a true freshman, anchoring that LSU defense, while Chase was the most dominant receiver on a team absolutely stacked with talent at the position. Parsons would’ve been a nice alternative after offensive players dominated the covers, and Sewell could’ve been a worthy hat tip to big men everywhere. Smith wasn’t exactly heralded as a genuine superstar entering the 2020 season, but he’d racked up 1,256 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior and, by year’s end, would become the first Heisman winner who wasn’t a QB or running back since Charles Woodson.
The cover: Stingley. There were lots of good options here, but Stingley had the recruiting hype, on-field performance, and post-national title glow to warrant a cover, and it’s nice to get away from the QBs and skill position guys on offense. That the rest of Stingley’s LSU career didn’t quite match the freshman hype — largely due to injuries — is unimportant here. LSU was the best team to grace a college football field in decades, and he had a strong argument to be considered its biggest returning star.
NCAA Football 22
Expected release: Summer 2021
The contenders: Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei, Alabama QB Bryce Young, LSU’s Stingley, Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, Cincinnati CB Sauce Gardner, Iowa State RB Breece Hall
And so it is that we’ve reached the year in which actual NIL deals were happening around college football, even if EA would need another three years before it could take advantage of the rule change to release a new game. Still, NIL allowed players like Uiagalelei, Young and Stingley to become household names outside of just the college football world, enjoying national endorsement deals and a new level of prestige. But Dr Pepper is one thing. The cover of NCAA Football is another. Young hadn’t taken a meaningful snap yet at Alabama, but his star turn was all but assured. Gardner, fresh off leading Cincinnati to the first playoff berth for a Group of 5 school, might’ve been an intriguing choice, too. A retrospectively amusing option might’ve been J.T. Daniels, who looked poised to take over at QB at Georgia in the summer of 2021, only to lose his job to a former walk-on — who we’ll get to in a bit — a couple months later.
The cover: Uiagalelei. There’s not a clear front-runner among the contenders, but Uiagalelei was probably the biggest name at the time. He’d started two games in relief of Lawrence in 2020 and looked terrific in both. He was a former five-star recruit. He had a big personality, big arm and already had inked some very big endorsement deals. It’s almost hard to imagine now — knowing how it all turned out — but on the heels of Tajh Boyd, Watson and Lawrence excelling at Clemson, Uiagalelei seemed about as close to a surefire star as possible. But hey, maybe in 2023 at Florida State, he’ll actually become one.
NCAA Football 23
Expected release: Summer 2022
The contenders: Georgia DT Jalen Carter, TE Brock Bowers and QB Stetson Bennett, Alabama QB Young and OLB Will Anderson, Kansas State RB Deuce Vaughn, USC QB Caleb Williams and WR Jordan Addison, Ohio State QB CJ Stroud, Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke, Texas RB Bijan Robinson, past cover winners
Georgia’s run to a national title allows for plenty of options in Athens, with Bowers the clear headliner, Carter the defensive force, and Bennett the beloved underdog success story. Anderson was coming off one of the best seasons for a pass-rusher in recent memory, and Williams and Robinson had both flashed enough talent in the latter half of 2021 to be primed for even bigger things ahead. And then there’s Young. The prior two Heisman winners to return to school the following year — Winston and Jackson — were our selections to grace the cover, so ignoring Young’s win would be tough. In other words, this would’ve been among the deepest pools of cover candidates during the 11-year absence of the game, but it also would’ve marked the 20th edition of NCAA Football, and it’s entirely possible EA would want to celebrate the occasion with a retrospective, perhaps featuring some past cover models such as Tommie Frazier (from the game’s first cover), Woodson, Tebow or Reggie Bush.
The cover: Bowers, alongside the greats. This is the most elegant solution. Yes, EA should’ve celebrated its 20th installment by putting past stars on the cover, but the best way to blend the old with the new would be to add Bowers — soon to be the game’s most dynamic tight end — to the group.
NCAA Football 24
Expected release: Summer 2023
The contenders: USC’s Williams, Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, QB Shedeur Sanders and head coach Deion Sanders, Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU LB Harold Perkins, UNC QB Drake Maye
Williams was the defending Heisman winner. Perkins looked like he’d be the biggest star in the sport after a show-stopping freshman campaign. Harrison was already a star with ample name recognition. The entire Colorado story was a cash cow for everyone involved.
The cover: Williams. And perhaps this is the one time we’re grateful for the game’s absence because, as much as we think Williams would’ve been the deserving honoree to grace the cover, there’s also a pretty strong chance the allure of a Coach Prime sales bump would be too hard to ignore, and frankly, Sanders didn’t need any more hype. On the other hand, there’s plenty of time for Prime to win the Big 12, watch as his son wins the Heisman, recruit a top-five class without leaving his office, and nab the cover of NCAA Football 26.
You may like
Sports
MLB’s villains or its gold standard? How the Los Angeles Dodgers got here
Published
5 hours agoon
March 17, 2025By
admin
-
Alden GonzalezMar 17, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
The Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t just a baseball team these days. They are a symbol. For fans of the other 29 major league clubs, they are a source of either indignation or longing. For rival owners — and the commissioner who answers to them — they exemplify a widening payroll disparity that must be addressed. For players, and the union that represents them, they are a beacon, embodying all the traits of successful organizations: astute at player development, invested in behind-the-scenes components that make a difference and, most prominently, eager to pump their outsized revenues back into the roster.
The Dodgers employ seven players on nine-figure contracts, with five of those deals reached over the past 15 months. They also have the strongest farm system in the sport, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Their lineup is loaded and their rotation is decorated, but also their future looks bright and their resources seem limitless. And yet their chief architect, Andrew Friedman, isn’t ready for a victory lap.
“It just doesn’t really land with me in that way,” Friedman, entering his 11th year as the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, said in a recent phone conversation. “I think once I get fired, once there’s like real distance between being mired in the day-to-day and when I’m not, I will be able to look back at those things. But for us right now, it all feels very precarious.
“We’ve seen a lot of really successful organizations that fall off a cliff and take a while to build back. We don’t take any of it for granted.”
Nothing lasts forever. Every empire has fallen, every dynasty has faded. But what the Dodgers have built feels uniquely sustainable. A glaring reminder came last month, when Major League Baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, was asked whether outrage over the Dodgers’ spending reminded him of how fans felt about the star-laden New York Yankees teams of the early 2000s, commonly referred to as “The Evil Empire.”
The current Dodgers, Manfred said, “are probably more profitable on a percentage basis than the old Yankees were, meaning it could be more sustainable, so it is more of a problem.”
The word “problem” depends on one’s perspective. Dodgers fans certainly wouldn’t describe it as such. As the team prepares to begin its season on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs in Japan — a country in which they are revered, in a series sponsored by their ownership group — it’s worth understanding how the Dodgers got here.
It was the result of their process, but it also required several monumental steps over the past dozen years.
Below is a look at their biggest leaps.
Jan. 28, 2013: They signed a media megadeal
At the start of 2013, the Dodgers, less than a year into Guggenheim’s ownership, landed a massive local-media deal spanning 25 years and valued at $8.35 billion, or $334 million annually on average. But for the rest of that decade, it qualified as a massive headache. A stalemate between AT&T and Charter Communications meant more than half the Southern California market was unable to access the team’s channel, SportsNet LA, from 2014 to 2020.
As the impasse continued and tensions escalated, the Dodgers’ media deal came to symbolize a growing clash between sports channels that demand higher fees and content distributors wary of making customers pay for content they do not consume. Now — five years after the two sides finally struck a deal, airing Dodgers games on AT&T video platforms and nearly doubling the number of households to more than 3 million — it exemplifies a growing disparity that is rattling the industry.
The Dodgers’ local-media deal runs longer than most and is more expensive than any other, but here’s the kicker, according to a source familiar with the deal: While most regional sports networks are set up as subsidiaries underneath a corporate entity, leaving them in the lurch when they fall into hard times — like Diamond Sports Group, a former Sinclair subsidiary that was forced into bankruptcy when debt mounted and subscribers fell off — the Dodgers have complete corporate backing from Charter, a massive media conglomerate.
So not only do the Dodgers generate far more in local media than any of their competitors, but at a time when the linear-cable model is drying up and teams face increasing uncertainty with RSN contracts that represent about 20% of revenues, their deal is relatively iron-clad. That is especially valuable considering they’re in a division where three teams — the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies — have lost their local media deals.
Dec. 21, 2018: They swung a trade that streamlined their payroll
Four days before Christmas in 2018, the Dodgers executed a rare salary dump. Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and cash were sent to the Cincinnati Reds for Homer Bailey, who was promptly released, and two young players who would later help trigger blockbuster acquisitions, Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray. The prospect component was secondary; the real benefit was the money saved, which gave the Dodgers additional wiggle room under the luxury-tax threshold and helped them remain debt-service compliant the following year.
In a bigger sense, it was the culmination of a multi-year effort by the front office to rid the Dodgers of bloated contracts and streamline a payroll that ultimately became burdened by massive deals for players like Kemp, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford and Adrián González. The Dodgers’ luxury-tax payroll dropped by about $50 million from 2017 to 2019, by which point only two players — A.J. Pollock and Kenta Maeda — were signed beyond the next two years. In Friedman’s mind, the Dodgers were now free to be aggressive.
“For our first four to five years, it was as much about trying to be as competitive as we could be while getting our future payroll outlook in a better spot,” he said. “At the end of the 2019 season was the first time we had reached that point and were in position to be more aggressive at the top of the free-agent class.”
Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon headlined that offseason’s free-agent class. The Dodgers didn’t come away with either of them.
They would soon make up for it.
Feb. 10, 2020: Mookie Betts became available — and they pounced
The Dodgers engaged in initial trade conversations around Betts leading up to the trade deadline in 2019, but then the Boston Red Sox won five of seven against the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees near the end of July, and suddenly Betts was unavailable. A tone was set nonetheless.
“We knew, with him going into his last year of control, that there was a chance they would look to trade him going into that offseason,” Friedman recalled. “There was a switch in their baseball-operations department, and Chaim Bloom was hired, who I have a good relationship with. I spent a lot of time talking to him in the beginning. For him, it was about getting his feet on the ground and understanding the organizational direction of what they were doing. And it wasn’t until January where he opened the door to engage.”
Friedman, who gave Bloom his first front-office job in Tampa, ultimately landed Betts and David Price for Alex Verdugo, Downs and another position-player prospect in Connor Wong on Feb. 10, 2020. Friedman had long coveted Betts not just for his supreme talent, but for his work ethic and competitive edge and how those qualities seemed to elevate those around him. Within five months, Betts agreed to a 12-year, $365 million extension, eschewing free agency.
March 17, 2022: Freddie Freeman became a surprise free agent addition
When Freeman hit free agency after winning the 2021 World Series with the Braves, Friedman assumed he would simply return to Atlanta. So did everyone else — Freeman included. He was a homegrown star poised to someday get his number retired and have a statue outside Truist Park. But initial conversations barely progressed, and the Dodgers saw an opening.
On the afternoon of Dec. 1, moments before the sport would shut down in the midst of a bitter labor fight, Dodgers players, coaches and executives gathered for Betts’ wedding in L.A. Friedman, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and then-third baseman Justin Turner briefly stepped away to call Freeman. They wanted to leave a lasting impression before an owner-imposed lockout would prohibit communication between teams and players. They wanted to be the last club he heard from.
The message, essentially: Don’t forget about us.
Friedman said he “got off the call feeling like it was incredibly unlikely” that the Dodgers would land Freeman. But when the lockout ended on March 10, the Braves and Freeman’s then-agent, Casey Close, still couldn’t bridge the gap, either on length or value. Four days later, the Braves traded for another star first baseman in Matt Olson, leaving Freeman stunned. Three days after that, he pivoted to the Dodgers, coming to terms on a six-year, $162 million contract.
2022-23 offseason: They sat out the shortstop market
When Corey Seager became a free agent at the end of the 2021 season, the Dodgers had a ready-made replacement in Trea Turner, who had been acquired with Max Scherzer the previous summer in a deal that sent Gray and three other minor leaguers to the Washington Nationals. But when Turner himself became a free agent a year later, the Dodgers did nothing to shore up one of the sport’s most important positions.
Turner became part of a historic class of free-agent shortstops, along with Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. The Dodgers didn’t pursue any of them, even though they didn’t have a clear replacement. The Dodgers could have avoided years of uncertainty at this position by locking in a proven star, but doing so was hardly entertained.
The reason is now obvious.
“With where we were commitment-wise,” Friedman said, “and with Shohei [Ohtani] coming up the next offseason, it was just a higher bar to clear for us to do something that would have any negative ability for us to pursue Shohei.”
Dec. 11, 2023: Ohtani chose them
By the time Ohtani became a free agent in November of 2023, the Dodgers’ roster was loaded but their payroll was manageable, with only Betts and Freeman guaranteed beyond the next two seasons. The Dodgers could boast a contending team — with two franchise pillars and a wealth of young talent — but also pitch Ohtani on the promise of adding other impact players around him, regardless of his monstrous contract. It worked.
Now, Dec. 11, 2023, stands as one of the most monumental dates in Dodgers history. Ohtani not only joined the Dodgers that day, but he agreed to defer more than 97% of his 10-year, $700 million contract. The Dodgers have become infamous for their propensity to defer money, a mechanism to provide players with a higher guarantee but, given the ability to invest deferred commitments, is mostly beneficial to the Dodgers (though perhaps not as much as one might think).
Ohtani’s deal was followed by the addition of two frontline starters — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who landed a contract worth $325 million, and Tyler Glasnow, who was acquired via trade and subsequently signed a five-year extension worth close to $140 million. Ohtani didn’t pitch in 2024, but he put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history, starting the 50/50 club and becoming the first full-time designated hitter to win an MVP.
Just as important, from the Dodgers’ perspective: He generated massive amounts of revenue.
Ohtani had MLB’s top-selling jersey by a wide margin. With him on the roster, the Dodgers struck sponsorship agreements with 11 different Japanese companies during the 2024 season. Two Ohtani bobblehead giveaways prompted fans to line up outside Dodger Stadium up to 10 hours before the first pitch. Japanese guided tours through the ballpark — a twice-a-day, four-day-a-week addition — never relented. The gift shops frequently had lines out the door.
The Dodgers won’t disclose how much additional revenue they generated from Ohtani last year, but team president Stan Kasten has repeatedly said it blew away even their most optimistic projections.
Oct. 9, 2024: They survived Game 4 of the NLDS
It’s amazing, given the space the Dodgers currently occupy, that five months ago they carried a reputation as, well, chokers. Their championship at the end of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season had been thoroughly dismissed for its unconventionality. More prevalent in the general public’s mind was 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, seasons that ended with talented teams getting eliminated early by inferior opponents.
The 2024 season was quickly headed in that direction. On Oct. 9, the Dodgers trailed a Padres club that was widely considered more well-rounded two-games-to-one in the best-of-five National League Division Series. Their depleted rotation had run out of starters. They would stage a bullpen game with their season on the line. And they would survive. The Dodgers shut out the Padres in Game 4, shut them out again in Game 5, then cruised past the New York Mets and Yankees to capture their first full-season championship since 1988.
What followed was a second straight offseason in which the Dodgers added practically every player they wanted. That included a frontline starter (Blake Snell), two corner outfielders (Teoscar Hernandez and Michael Conforto), three premium bullpen pieces (Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen), two fan favorites (Clayton Kershaw and Kiké Hernández) and one of the most alluring pitching prospects in a generation (Roki Sasaki). A key utility player (Tommy Edman) was also extended. The cost: another $466.5 million in guaranteed money, immediately after an offseason in which they guaranteed close to $1.4 billion in signings and extensions.
Roberts, fresh off a record-setting extension, has talked about how he might have been fired had he not navigated his Dodgers past the Padres last fall. Friedman acknowledged that the Dodgers probably don’t spend as much if they don’t win the World Series and generate the extra revenue that comes from it, though he called that “a lazy guess.”
Still, when asked how often he has thought about how life would be different if the Dodgers hadn’t won Game 4 of the 2024 NLDS, Friedman said: “Zero minutes.”
“We have been on the good side of those games and on the bad side of those games,” he added, “and I’ve spent zero minutes thinking about what the world would look like if the outcome had been different.”
All that matters now is a reality that exhilarates their fans and infuriates everyone else: The Dodgers look about as insurmountable as a franchise can be in this sport.
Sports
NHL playoff watch: The Bruins’ path to the postseason
Published
5 hours agoon
March 17, 2025By
admin
The Boston Bruins‘ approach to the trade deadline indicated that perhaps management thought this wasn’t their year, and they would add some future assets for a quick reload this offseason.
But as the chips fall on Monday, the Bruins still have a chance to make the playoffs.
That all begins with a game against the lottery-bound Buffalo Sabres Monday night (7 p.m., ESPN+). A win in that one closes the gap between Boston and the current first wild card, the New York Rangers. The Rangers have 72 points and 30 regulation wins through 68 games, while Boston is at 68 and 23 through 68.
After Buffalo, it’s a road trip through Nevada and California (Golden Knights on Thursday, Sharks on Saturday, Kings on Sunday and Ducks on Wednesday, March 26). All told, the Bruins will play teams currently in playoff position in six of the final 13 games after the matchup with the Sabres; the final five, in particular, could be a spot to make up ground, with two against the injury-struck Devils along with single games against the Sabres, Blackhawks and Penguins.
To be clear, this would be a long shot; in addition to going on a hot streak, the Bruins will need to jump ahead of four teams (which would all need to get cold, in this hypothetical). Stathletes isn’t so sure all of that will fall into place, giving the Bruins a 2.4% chance of making the postseason. But stranger things have happened in recent seasons!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.
Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today’s schedule
Yesterday’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick
Current playoff matchups
Eastern Conference
A1 Florida Panthers vs. WC1 Ottawa Senators
A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Toronto Maple Leafs
M1 Washington Capitals vs. WC2 New York Rangers
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 New Jersey Devils
Western Conference
C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 Vancouver Canucks
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings
Monday’s games
Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).
Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Flyers at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 p.m.
New Jersey Devils at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m.
Calgary Flames at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings at Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m.
Sunday’s scoreboard
Detroit Red Wings 3, Vegas Golden Knights 0
Colorado Avalanche 4, Dallas Stars 3 (OT)
Edmonton Oilers 3, New York Rangers 1
New York Islanders 4, Florida Panthers 2
St. Louis Blues 7, Anaheim Ducks 2
Utah Hockey Club 3, Vancouver Canucks 1
Winnipeg Jets 3, Seattle Kraken 2 (OT)
Expanded standings
Atlantic Division
Points: 85
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 14
Points pace: 102.5
Next game: @ CBJ (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 16
Points pace: 100.6
Next game: vs. PHI (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 16
Points pace: 100.6
Next game: vs. CGY (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 77
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 16
Points pace: 95.7
Next game: @ MTL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 98.8%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 16
Points pace: 88.2
Next game: vs. OTT (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 20.2%
Tragic number: 32
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 15
Points pace: 85.7
Next game: @ WSH (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 5.3%
Tragic number: 29
Points: 68
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 82.0
Next game: vs. BUF (Monday)
Playoff chances: 2.4%
Tragic number: 25
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 73.2
Next game: @ BOS (Monday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 21
Metro Division
Points: 96
Regulation wins: 37
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 15
Points pace: 117.5
Next game: vs. DET (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 86
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 15
Points pace: 105.3
Next game: @ SJ (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 78
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 14
Points pace: 94.1
Next game: @ CBJ (Monday)
Playoff chances: 95.7%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 72
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 14
Points pace: 86.8
Next game: vs. CGY (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 53.2%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 16
Points pace: 87.0
Next game: vs. NJ (Monday)
Playoff chances: 16.7%
Tragic number: 31
Points: 68
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 16
Points pace: 84.5
Next game: @ PIT (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 6.4%
Tragic number: 29
Points: 66
Regulation wins: 19
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 78.4
Next game: vs. NYI (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 0.8%
Tragic number: 21
Points: 64
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 77.2
Next game: @ TB (Monday)
Playoff chances: 0.5%
Tragic number: 21
Central Division
Points: 98
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 14
Points pace: 118.2
Next game: @ VAN (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 87
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 16
Points pace: 108.1
Next game: vs. ANA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 85
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 14
Points pace: 102.5
Next game: @ TOR (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 79
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 15
Points pace: 96.7
Next game: vs. LA (Monday)
Playoff chances: 91%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 73
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 88.0
Next game: @ NSH (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 32.5%
Tragic number: 29
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 15
Points pace: 86.9
Next game: @ EDM (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 17%
Tragic number: 29
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 16
Points pace: 72.1
Next game: vs. STL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 18
Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 15
Points pace: 60.0
Next game: vs. SEA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 7
Pacific Division
Points: 86
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 15
Points pace: 105.3
Next game: vs. BOS (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 82
Regulation wins: 28
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 15
Points pace: 100.4
Next game: vs. UTA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.8%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 17
Points pace: 102.2
Next game: @ MIN (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.8%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 73
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 15
Points pace: 89.3
Next game: vs. WPG (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 41.1%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 89.6
Next game: @ TOR (Monday)
Playoff chances: 18.7%
Tragic number: 33
Points: 65
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 15
Points pace: 79.6
Next game: @ DAL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 23
Points: 63
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 76.0
Next game: @ CHI (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 19
Points: 45
Regulation wins: 13
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 54.3
Next game: vs. CAR (Thursday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 1
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.
Points: 45
Regulation wins: 13
Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21
Points: 63
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 64
Regulation wins: 17
Points: 65
Regulation wins: 21
Points: 66
Regulation wins: 19
Points: 68
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 68
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 22
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 73
Regulation wins: 24
Sports
Betts (illness) out for Tokyo Series; lost 15 pounds
Published
12 hours agoon
March 17, 2025By
admin
-
Associated Press
Mar 16, 2025, 11:04 PM ET
TOKYO — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will not play in the two-game Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of an illness that has lingered for the past week.
Manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Betts is starting to feel better but has lost nearly 15 pounds and is still trying to get rehydrated and gain strength. Roberts added that the eight-time All-Star might fly back to the United States before the team in an effort to rest and prepare for the domestic opener on March 27.
The Cubs and Dodgers open the Major League Baseball season on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. A second game is on Wednesday.
“He’s not going to play in these two games,” Roberts said. “When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that.”
Roberts said Miguel Rojas will start at shortstop in Betts’ place for the two games at the Tokyo Dome.
Betts started suffering from flu-like symptoms at the team’s spring training home in Arizona the day before the team left for Japan. He still made the long plane trip but hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped.
Roberts said if the team had known the illness would linger this long, Betts wouldn’t have traveled. Betts tried to go through a workout on Sunday but became tired quickly.
Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop this season after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.
Trending
-
Sports2 years ago
‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months ago
Story injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year ago
Game 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years ago
MLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years ago
Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years ago
Game-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years ago
Bank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway