Braves Free Agent Defends Dodgers Deferred Money Strategy

The latest free agent moves by the Dodgers have sparks criticism, but one Braves infielder doens't think its so bad

Not everyone is upset at how the Dodgers are structuring contracts / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The court of public opinion hasn’t been afraid to make its thoughts known on how the Los Angeles Dodgers have structured the contracts of their notable free-agent signings. 

First, it was Shohei Ohtani being inked to a 10-year, $700 million deal with $680 million of it deferred. He’s being paid only $2 million a year until 2033 and then will get $68 million a year until 2043. 

Now, Blake Snell’s contract has catapulted this discussion back into the spotlight. He signed a five-year, $182 million deal. Of that total, $65 million will be deferred, according to Spotrac. 

The idea here is that the Dodgers are making splash signings but aren’t making them the big money upfront. 

Some are showing their frustrations over this strategy, but an Atlanta Braves free agent doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal. Whit Merrifield was a guest on Monday’s edition of Foul Territory. When asked about the latest moves, he felt the Dodgers were just being smart with their deals. 

“The Dodgers have just gotten creative with how the system is set up,” Merrifield said. “...It’s not illegal. It’s not cheating. It’s just creative, and frankly, kudos to them.” 

While a top complaint is how unfair this strategy is, Merrifield quickly pointed out that this is not something only the Dodgers can do. Other teams can try to mimic this in order to get the talent they want. 

“Their playbook it out there for other teams to say, seems to be working for them. Maybe we should think about doing something like this,” he added. 

So, gone might be the days when Bobby Bonilla, Ken Griffey Jr. and Chris Davis were special for how long teams are still paying them years after they had retired, let alone were no longer on the team. 

Paying big names over a long period of time could wind up becoming the norm in baseball.

It's understandable by Merrifield and the guys who signed these deals like it. It's more money guaranteed to be coming in over a long time. It doesn't hurt to have that.

Perhaps the Braves might look into trying this strategy this offseason. After all, they’re pushing up against the luxury tax bracket but are also looking to make some moves on the free-agent market.