Snyder's Soapbox: The 'Ohtani Rule' only feels like special treatment because he's a special player

The most important point here is that every single team is playing by the same rules. Every complaint acts like the Dodgers are using some loophole and getting special treatment, but that is simply not true. It is uniform.

The reason the rule seems special is because there is only one player talented enough to pull off double duty. Counsell and the Cubs are free to use Moisés Ballesteros in their rotation. You might laugh, but that's what the Dodgers are doing. Why don't the Yankees put Giancarlo Stanton in their rotation? When George Springer gets back from the IL, could the Blue Jays make him their fifth starter?

Laughable.

And yet, that's what Ohtani does. He's one of the best hitters in baseball and also one of the best pitchers. There's a reason the Dodgers gave him a $700 million contract: he's essentially two separate players in one and both of them are great.

The rule isn't unfair. Ohtani is just a special talent. Is the suggestion here that the Dodgers should get one fewer roster spot because Ohtani is basically two players? Because if you count him as a pitcher, they'd have an extra position player with him. What gets people worked up is having an extra pitcher in this day and age because that feels far more advantageous than having an extra position player, but the point is the same all around. Ohtani is one man, and he's both a hitter and a pitcher. They have to slot him somewhere on the roster and he can't count as two players. He hits a lot more often than he pitches, too. He appeared as a DH 158 times last season and as a pitcher 14 times. So far this year, it's 27 times at DH and four as a pitcher.

Given everything we've discussed, I can only arrive at one conclusion and it's that any pushback here is little more than sour grapes. I'm sorry your team doesn't have a two-way superstar.

And if you say, "but no other player is good enough to do both," my response is: I rest my case. Again, every team plays by the same rule. It just feels special because the player is special.