Last Updated: November 11th, 2026 by Matthew Brown
Free agency is one of the greatest things that has come out of the sport of baseball. This wonderful sports documentary by Baseball Doesn't Exist examines the winding road that it took to get to the point we're at today. If you have some time, I highly encourage you to watch this presentation.
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We'll take a little bit here to chat about something that is at the beginning part of it. The narrator starts by mentioning how Joe DiMaggio was paid a fraction of the price that a player like Shohei Ohtani is getting paid today. Obviously, that's why this video was created, but I wanted to focus on a different curiosity that stems from that statement.
If DiMaggio were playing in today's day and age, how expensive would his contract be? Imagining that he's producing at the same rate that he did back then, he would actually be a pretty valuable asset to any team.
His fielding ability in center field would automatically put him in a valuable tier. The contact he could make with his bat would only add to it. I wouldn't mind offering him a contract that's worth more than $300 million.
No matter what, it's pretty crazy to think about the pay discrepancy between eras. This video will walk you through every major step in the path.
