Dodgers Required To Sign More Players Thanks To Ohtani Contract
Shohei Ohtani, Major League Baseball's most unique player, just signed baseball's most unique contract.
What seemed on its face to be a straightforward, 10-year, $700 million deal turned out to be anything but. Thanks to deferred money, apparently an Ohtani suggestion, the Los Angeles Dodgers will pay him just $2 million a year for the next 10 years.
That structure immediately makes the contract the most unusual financial arrangement in the sport. And perhaps any of the other major sports. Ohtani will make less this season than the Dodgers backup catcher, Austin Barnes. Barnes last season, for the record, had an OPS+ of 36, meaning he was 64% worse than the average major league catcher. Ohtani's OPS+ was 184, nearly 150 points higher. And he's making less.
It's completely within the rules for Ohtani to choose to take an eye watering $680 million as deferred compensation. But that's not the only unusual aspect of his contract. Written into the language is a requirement that the Dodgers use the savings they gain from his deal to sign other players.
Tom Verducci from Sports Illustrated reported that the contract requires the team "promise to use the savings he created to build a competitive team around him."
Quite literally, Ohtani is ensuring that the Dodgers will not be as incompetent and inept as the Angels.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 29: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels bats during the fifth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Shohei Ohtani Contract Ensures Dodgers Have To Keep Signing Free Agents
According to Verducci, the Dodgers intend to immediately put those savings to good use. Though Ohtani obviously solidifies the lineup as one of the best in the sport, the Dodgers are in desperate need of starting pitching depth.
Walker Buehler is returning from his second Tommy John procedure, Clayton Kershaw remains unsigned and out through at least the early-middle part of the summer. Tony Gonsolin is out for all of 2024 and Dustin May's return is, at best, set for August-September. Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove, Ryan Pepiot and Gavin Stone are all unproven, to various degrees, leaving Bobby Miller is the one established, uninjured starter. And he has all of 124 career major league innings.
So while initially it seemed like the Ohtani deal would push the Dodgers out of the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes, the space he created with the deferrals means the team is still heavily involved.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is still available. Lucas Giolito and Jordan Montgomery are too. Verducci even mentioned that reliever Josh Hader could be of interest, creating a devastating bullpen pairing with current closer Evan Phillips.
Could the Dodgers really sign Ohtani to a $700 million contract, then turn around and give Yamamoto $250-300 million on top of it? As unlikely as it seems, the language in the Ohtani deal essentially requires them to.
For the Dodgers organization and their fans, Shohei is already the gift that keeps on giving. At least until those $68 million deferred payments start.