Ex-Marlins president contrasts Shohei Ohtani’s global pull with Mike Trout, Aaron Judge’s lack of MLB expansion impact

LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's massive appeal in Japan and America is what MLB is counting on in their road to profitability, according to former Miami Marlins president David Samson.

As per Samson, America couldn't find its own homegrown star who could have the same appeal as Ohtani. While Mike Trout and Aaron Judge are generational talents, neither has the same worldwide appeal.

Speaking on the business side of baseball, Samson believes Japan remains the most profitable international market for the league and that Ohtani’s influence surpasses American stars like Trout and Judge's.

"Japan is the market that baseball has used as its second most profitable market ever," Samson said.

"As often as we try to build baseball internationally — to Europe, London, and Amsterdam with VandenHurk, we even tried India and China — the fact of the matter is that Japan provides the best pathway to profitability for the 30 owners."

The former Marlins president compared how NBA received its global appeal in China, thanks to the emergence of Yao Ming in the professional league.

"The reason why Noah Garden, deputy commissioner in charge of business and media, believes that this will be the most successful trip to Japan for baseball and the owners is that they are activating Shohei Ohtani in a way they dream about activating American players in America—but they can't find anyone to do it," Samson added.

"This goes back to Mike Trout and continues through Aaron Judge, who should be the face of baseball. They even tried Jazz Chisholm. You have to be good. What they're trying to do is show American players — look at what can happen if you're willing to make the effort."

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Soaring ticket prices for Tokyo Series featuring Shohei Ohtani & Co.

To watch Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers and Shota Imanaga's Chicago Cubs, fans need to spend big sums. That's because the tickets for the two-game series have risen in value exponentially.

Due to Ohtani's massive appeal, the price of tickets ranges from $1,476 to a whopping $20,822 on resale platforms, per The Playoffs.

According to StubHub, tickets for Game 1 are listed between $2,000 and over $10,000. Game 2 is even more expensive, with a minimum ticket value of $1,900 to $19,000.

David Samson was only right to say that the amount of revenue MLB will generate through this series will be insane.