Sports
Tony Clark says MLBPA will protect the right for deferred contracts like Shohei Ohtani's
Like the rest of the baseball world, Tony Clark reacted with surprise at Shohei Ohtani’s decision to defer $680 million of his $700 million contract with the Dodgers this offseason.
Unlike some voices around the industry, however, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. didn’t question whether MLB’s contract deferral rules needed to be changed as a result.
“We want the players and their individual representation to have as many tools in the tool bag to work with teams to find common ground,” Clark said in an interview with The Times. “All of those things we should assume to be correct.”
Clark’s comments came Monday, minutes after he and other MLBPA officials met with Dodgers players at the team’s Camelback Ranch facility; and more than two months after Ohtani inked a record-setting deal that stunned many agents, executives and evaluators around MLB.
“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn,” Clark said, “to suggest that Shohei was a fairly unique player with unique opportunities.”
Ohtani, of course, hasn’t been the only star player to sign a deferral-laden deal in recent years. The Dodgers alone have several players on similar deals, including Mookie Betts ($115 million of $365 million deferred), Freddie Freeman ($57 million of $162 million deferred) and even Tesocar Hernández ($8.5 million of $23.5 million deferred).
The trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by some agents around the industry, especially for deals such as Ohtani’s in which the “net present value” of a contract — essentially, how much a deal with deferrals would be worth if it were paid out in the present day, since money in the future isn’t as valuable because of inflation — is significantly lower than the actual guaranteed total.
Although Ohtani’s total guarantee was a record-breaking $700 million, the MLBPA calculated its net present value to be only $437.5 million.
But, under MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, there are no restrictions on how much money teams and players can agree to defer in contracts.
And, according to Clark, that’s a “right” the union is determined to protect.
“For us, the fundamental simply is making sure that the player, the individual representative and the teams that may be otherwise engaged have as many options at their disposal [as possible],” Clark said.
“It’s the rights that the players have, that they can choose to use in the fashion that they deem fit,” he added. “We offer them perspective. We offer them history. We offer them any information to help them make the best decision they can themselves. So if a player decides to do what Shohei did, they can make that determination. If another player comes in and he wants and finds a team that’s willing to have their contract all in present value, that’s fine as well.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani smiles while warming up in the batting cage at spring training on Feb. 14.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A more consequential recent development to Clark — and agents around baseball — was MLB commissioner Rob Manfred saying last week that the league would prefer to institute a “free agency signing period” in the offseason, preferably in December around the time of the league’s winter meetings.
It’s not a new issue. In October 2019, the league proposed to the MLBPA a free-agency deadline for players to sign multiyear contracts, only to have the concept quickly shot down by the players’ union.
“This goes back to our conversation about having as many tools in the toolbag as you can,” Clark said. “The truth is, having the opportunity to have [free-agent] conversations without the deadline — and for the teams and the players and their individual representatives to have that flexibility not against the backdrop of an artificial deadline — made a whole lot more sense than the damage we thought it could do based on the proposal that was sent across to us.”
Alas, the idea has resurfaced throughout this past offseason.
Ohtani’s longer-than-expected free-agent process sparked a wave of speculation about how MLB could add timely interest to its hot stove season.
So too has a seemingly slow free-agent market in the months since, with several top stars — including two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and former National League MVP Cody Bellinger — remaining unsigned into the first week of spring training.
Yet, any hard deadline would almost certainly be opposed by the union, out of concern about how it might pressure free-agent players.
“We’ve had two player meetings as of this spring,” Clark said, “and being able to remind them of what the actual proposal was [in 2019], they all understand. They all understand that it’s not to their benefit.”
“We’ll see if the league decides to make another proposal along those lines, and we’ll engage the players and the agent community when they do,” Clark added. “Then we’ll go from there.”
Maybe Tom Cruise will make a visit to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Thursday for the Mission League track and field finals since he’s the one who said in his 1986 movie, “Top Gun,” that he feels “the need for speed.”
There will be no lacking in speed for the 100 meters, where there are so many runners who have run under 11 seconds this season that a second 100 final could be run if needed. Zion Phelps of Loyola has the fastest time at 10.39. Quincy Hearn of Notre Dame is at 10.52. Jayden Davis of Loyola has run 10.57. And there’s a freshman at Harvard-Westlake, Calvin Portley, who ran 10.69 at Monday’s prelims.
The 4×100 relay also should be outstanding, matching Notre Dame and Loyola. The Notre Dame quartet of Nikko Petronicolos, Quincy Hearn, Beckham Borquez and Emmanuel Pullins has run 40.76. Loyola has a time of 40.73.
Borquez is also a top hurdler and defending state champion JJ Harel of Notre Dame will be in the high jump. Ejam Yohannes of Loyola is one of the favorites to win a state title in the 400.
League finals are scheduled all week, with the Trinity League finals on Friday at 6 p.m. at JSerra.
Southern Section prelims will be held next weekend, followed by the finals on May 16 at Moorpark High.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
Sports
Cooper Flagg wins NBA Rookie of the Year after Kon Knueppel’s Play-In Tournament struggles swayed voters
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Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg was named the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year, and it was a thrillingly close vote in the end.
Flagg narrowly beat out Charlotte Hornets’ sharpshooter Kon Knueppel, his fellow Duke Blue Devils star who went three picks later than Flagg in last year’s draft, earning 56 first-place votes compared to Knueppel’s 44. So, Flagg finished with 412 total vote points to Knueppel’s 386.
Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe finished in third place with 96 points (93 third-place votes), while San Antonio Spurs’ Dylan Harper and Memphis Grizzlies Cedric Coward also got third-place votes.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg controls the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Dallas, Texas, on March 30, 2026. (Gareth Patterson/AP Photo)
Flagg marked the second-youngest player to ever win the award, as the 19-year-old was only behind Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.
For most of the season, it appeared Knueppel was going to win the award, but multiple voters came out publicly and said Knueppel’s Play-In Tournament struggles factored into them changing their minds for Flagg.
MAVERICKS’ COOPER FLAGG ADMITS ROOKIE SEASON HAS BEEN ‘MENTALLY TAXING’ AMID THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES
Knueppel had just six points on 2-of-12 shooting in 34 minutes during the Hornets’ electric 127-126 overtime win over the Miami Heat at the start of the tournament. Then, in the 121-90 loss to the Orlando Magic, he shot 3 of 11 for 11 points (4 of 5 from the free-throw line as well), and he posted a minus-26 while on the court.
Flagg noted being keen on what Knueppel was doing during the year, showing love to his fellow rookie.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg watches from the bench during the second quarter against the Orlando Magic at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on April 3, 2026. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
“I see the games every night. I can check the box scores,” he said about watching Knueppel’s stat lines closely, per ESPN. “I think also I was watching Kon just because that’s one of my brothers.
“We had such a good connection, and we’re gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan, as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time.”
Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this year for the Mavericks. Those numbers had him among some NBA greats, as Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic were the only rookiesMichael Jordan and Luka Doncic were the only rookies before Flagg to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists since the NBA-ABA merger, ESPN pointed out. Flagg also led all rookies in scoring this season.
As for Knueppel, he dropped 18.5 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but while Flagg had him beat in those categories, he reset the rookie 3-pointers made record with 273. That number also led the NBA this season. Knueppel was also a key piece in the Hornets getting into the Play-In Tournament to begin with, finishing 44-38 before being eliminated by the Magic.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg dribbles during the second half of an NBA game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Dallas on April 5, 2026. (LM Otero/AP)
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Flagg and the Mavs didn’t fare too well this season, finishing 26-56, though he led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists this season. Despite the losses, Flagg continued to show that age didn’t matter, becoming the youngest player to ever have games with 35, 40, 45 and 50 points.
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Alijah Arenas will withdraw his name from the NBA draft and return to USC for his sophomore season, according to a person familiar with the decision not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The former five-star prospect, whose father is NBA star Gilbert Arenas, was expected to spend just a single season at USC before declaring for the draft. But nothing went as planned during Arenas’ freshman season.
Arenas was involved in a single-car accident in April 2025 and hospitalized for six days after a Tesla Cybertruck he was driving hit a tree and burst into flames. The week that he returned to practice after the accident, Arenas learned he needed knee surgery. He didn’t debut for the Trojans until late January. And when he finally made it into the lineup, Arenas was thrown into a starring role in the middle of a brutal Big Ten slate and struggled to adjust.
Still, there were glimpses of the player that Compton Magic AAU founder Etop Udo-Ema told The Times had the potential to one day “be the face of the NBA.” Over one stretch in early February, Arenas had 29 points in a win over Indiana, scored 24 and hit a winning shot at Penn State and put up 25 points at Ohio State.
“Just the things he can do, the IQ he has, what he can see, the way that he moves, the length, the size,” Udo-Ema said, “he’s the most talented guy I’ve ever seen.”
But Arenas told The Times in late February that he was unhappy with the results of his freshman campaign to that point.
“I know what I’m capable of. And I’m not there yet,” Arenas said. “Simple as that.”
Arenas had submitted his name as an early entrant in the NBA draft, the deadline for which was Monday. But ultimately, he opted to return to USC as a sophomore, in hopes of starting anew.
Arenas returns to a roster that should be even more talented in the 2026-27 season. Guard Rodney Rice and forward Jacob Cofie also announced earlier this month that they would return, while three top-25 prospects are set to join the roster this summer.
USC also already added a trio of players in the portal, including a 7-footer in Connecticut’s Eric Reibe and an experienced starter in Georgetown’s KJ Lewis.
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