The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract last offseason, which at the time represented the largest deal in professional sports history.
Ohtani’s record-setting contract included a staggering amount of deferred salary as he will earn a total of $20 million over the lifetime of the deal, with the remaining $680 million to be paid out from 2034-2043.
Ohtani agreed to the pay cut with a promise from Dodgers ownership that they will use the savings to continue adding elite talent to the roster.
L.A. kept their side of the bargain by adding Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler Glasnow before the 2024 season, all of whom were instrumental to the team winning the World Series that year.
“It’s a difficult question to answer because before we signed Shohei, we had the commitment from ownership and drive to do what we can to be aggressive and be great,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered when asked how much of an impact Ohtani’s deferrals have on the Dodgers’ ability to add talent in free agency.
“Obviously, adding a player of Shohei’s talent helps in that quite a bit and also the pledge that we made when we met with him about how aggressive we were going to be in trying to win. We feel some responsibility and obligation to fulfill that. But I think no matter what, our mindset was to be aggressive to add to the core that we have.
“Fortunately we don’t have to spend much time thinking about that alternate reality of not having Shohei. Again, that pledge and commitment we made to him, we take it seriously.”
While the deferred salary in Ohtani’s contract certainly helps, Dodgers ownership has long shown a willingness to commit the necessary financial resources to build the best roster possible.
The team consistently ranks at the top in total payroll and has exceeded the luxury tax threshold for four consecutive years.
Even after winning the 2024 World Series, the Dodgers have prioritized significant roster upgrades this offseason as they added Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki and appear to have an agreement with Kirby Yates.
Shohei Ohtani appreciates Dodgers ownership keeping promise
After winning a championship in his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani expressed gratitude to the front office and ownership for their continued efforts of improving the team.
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