Shohei Ohtani’s singular quest in history, the desire of one man to rewrite the baseball world’s perception of what is possible, reached another summit on Saturday when he agreed to the largest contract in records of major North American team sports, a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his agency CAA announced.
Ohtani announced his decision on Instagram. The deal ends years of feverish speculation about Ohtani’s future. Ohtani, a 29-year-old two-way sensation, has captivated the industry since he left Japan for Major League Baseball heading into the 2018 season. He accomplished things that seemed impossible in the modern era, feats reminiscent of Babe Ruth. As he traveled the country with the Los Angeles Angels this past summer, fans barraged him with recruiting pitches. When he entered free agency, a dozen teams lined up, wanting to see if they could catch his eye.
Only one team can secure Ohtani’s services. He is now getting paid for his immense talent and his unparalleled star power. His contract surpassed the $360 million record for free agents set last winter by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and also surpassed the record-setting $426.5 million extension from Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout. His success extended even outside of baseball, leading to the $450 million contract signed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Ohtani surpasses soccer star Lionel Messi’s $674 million contract — signed in 2017 when he was with FC Barcelona.
His individual brilliance wasn’t enough to lift the Angels into the postseason. With the Dodgers, Ohtani will now have a chance to add collective hardware to his trophy case. The Dodgers have won the National League West in 10 of the past 11 seasons, topped 100 victories in five of the past six full seasons and won the World Series in 2020. Ohtani has never played a postseason game in his career in the bigs. league.
“I feel like he wants to be the best ever,” the St. Louis outfielder said. Louis Cardinals shortstop Lars Nootbaar, who played with Ohtani last spring in the World Baseball Classic, “but I don’t think he would say that publicly.”
The deferrals effectively lower the average annual value of Ohtani’s contract, giving the Dodgers more flexibility as they try to navigate Major League Baseball’s luxury-tax system, which includes penalties for teams that exceed certain limits.
A team’s luxury tax-payroll is calculated based on the average annual value of the players, and is discounted by deferrals. Mookie Betts, for example, has $115 million deferred on his 12-year, $365 million contract with the Dodgers. Under the league’s calculations, the deferrals lowered his average annual value from $30.4 million to $25.5 million.
Dodgers officials declined comment when asked if Ohtani had taken a physical, the final step before a deal becomes official.
Important questions linger about Ohtani’s future. He will sit out 2024 as he recovers from surgery in September to repair the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018. Neither Ohtani, who has not taken questions from reporters since August, nor his agent Nez Balelo, nor the Angels have disclosed the exact nature of the second surgery, but Los Angeles reported Times this is Tommy John’s second procedure.
Balelo emphasized that Ohtani remains committed to both pitching and hitting in the future. “Shohei loves to pitch,” Balelo told reporters in September. Ohtani will try to return to the mound in 2025. His camp did not disclose at what point Ohtani would consider giving up his dual career and focus on learning another position. Since he was a teenager, Ohtani has ignored suggestions that he’s focused on just one goal.
Ohtani showed his potential as the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, but his two-way hopes were cut short after his first elbow surgery. Only in 2021 did the full flower of his ability bloom. He won the American League MVP in two of the past three seasons; in the intervening season, he led all American League pitchers in strikeout rate while hitting 34 home runs with an .875 OPS. To create a comparison for him involves inventions that look strange. “It’s like if Judge went out and was a 20-game winner,” former teammate Kole Calhoun said.
Ohtani won’t pitch in 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but his agent stressed he’s committed to returning to the mound. (Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Ohtani is committed to being a starting pitcher. If he can’t stay healthy for that role, he could help his new team as a reliever. He closed out the final game of the World Baseball Classic, clinching the crown for Japan by striking out Trout. His four-seam fastball averaged nearly 97 mph in 2023; the speed of the pitch figures to improve in short bursts.
Although Ohtani never pitched again, his value as a hitter was immense. In 1920, his first season exclusively as a hitter, Ruth led the American League in homers, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In 2023, while still making 23 starts with a 3.14 ERA, Ohtani led the American League in the same three categories as Ruth. He hit 44 homers with a career-best 1.066 OPS. He did this while starting and dealing with a torn tendon in his elbow.
Ohtani has only one stage left. He has never played a postseason game in the majors. As the Angels have been established over the years, Ohtani has become more vocal about his desire to play for a winner. Now he has a chance to make a different kind of history.
Required reading
(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
