Breaking Down Shohei Ohtani's Record-Shattering Contract With the Los Angeles Dodgers

Beyond the fact that it is the largest contract in sports history, Shohei Ohtani's contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is eye-popping for many other reasons.

Shohei Ohtani made history by putting pen to paper Saturday.

Ohtani's deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers is worth a whopping $700 million over 10 years, according to his agency CAA, far exceeding Mike Trout's previously record-setting 12-year, $427 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It also happens to surpass both Lionel Messi's deal with FC Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al Nassr, giving Ohtani the most expensive contract any athlete has ever signed with any team.

The Dodgers now have two of the three biggest contracts in baseball on the books, with the other one belonging to Mookie Betts. The 12-year, $365 million deal Betts signed with Los Angeles in 2020 contains roughly half as much guaranteed money as Ohtani's, though.

Of the 14 richest contracts in MLB, six are located in Southern California. Ohtani, Trout and Betts are joined on the list by San Diego Padres stars Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts.

Ohtani's contract is different than his fellow SoCal All-Star's deals, however, outside of the fact that it simply dwarfs them in size.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Ohtani's deal contains "unprecedented" deferrals. The idea, which originated on Ohtani's side of the negotiations, is that the Dodgers will save money on the competitive balance tax and also retain better cash flow on a year-to-year basis in order to keep fielding a competitive, well-balanced team.

The majority of Ohtani's salary will therefore be paid out in the distant future, as a result of the contract's unique structure. Ohtani's exact salary in 2024 and beyond has yet to be revealed.

Ohtani deal with Dodgers, per source, includes “unprecedented” deferrals - the majority of his salary. The deferrals were Ohtani’s idea to ease the Dodgers’ luxury-tax and cash flow burdens to give the team the flexibility needs to be as competitive as possible, the source said.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2023

At face value, though, Ohtani's $700 million contract is almost comically large.

The Miami Marlins, for context, were valued at $1 billion by Forbes earlier this year. Six NHL franchises – the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets – are all currently valued at less than $700 million.

Ohtani's crudely calculated average annual salary of $70 million is higher than the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics' entire Opening Day payrolls from 2023.

Whether or not Ohtani lives up to his gigantic price tag is a question for another day. For the time being, his contract will simply stand out on paper in a way no contract has before.

The two-time AL MVP and three-time All-Star will make his debut for the Dodgers next spring. The slugger will also be able to take the mound again in 2025, once he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

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