Justin Turner Has Interesting Response to Shohei Ohtani’s Deferred Contract With Dodgers

Even Turner couldn't believe this...

The entire baseball world couldn't believe their eyes when the news came out about two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani deferring all but $2 million of his annual salary each season.

Ohtani agreed to a record-setting 10-year contract with the Dodgers that is worth $700 million over the weekend. It was always going to have deferrals within it, but this amount is unprecedented.

Former Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner took to social media after the news was announced. He couldn't believe what he just saw.

The next ownership group will figure it out 😳

— Justin Turner (@redturn2) December 11, 2023

$68 of the $70 million owed to Ohtani each season will be paid out to him once the contract is over. This was Ohtani's idea and a way to keep the Dodgers competitive during the course of his tenure with them.

If anything, this now forces the Dodgers' front office to remain aggressive in terms of spending. Ohtani wants to field the best possible team around himself after spending years of mediocrity with the Los Angeles Angels. 

We normally never see superstar players deferring this much of the contract, so credit Ohtani for understanding that this is a win-now move. He wants to be the best he can be, and he picked the Dodgers for this very reason.