The Los Angeles Dodgers and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani made sports history with a 10-year, $700 millions deal this offseason — the highest-value ever promised to an athlete.
But the creative structure of the deal, which sees Ohtani deferring massive amounts of the money until well into the future, is unprecedented as well. And it means the greatest baseball player on earth is set to earn three different salaries next season, depending on where you look.
“We’re up [to] three different valuations of Ohtani’s salary in 2024 — the one for luxury-tax purposes ($46 million), the one the players’ union uses on the agent website ($43.7 million) and the one for the [qualifying offer] QO ($28 million),” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported.
Historic Shohei Ohtani Contract Deferrals Make for Unique Valuations
GettyShohei Ohtani speaks at a press conference introducing him as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers
The deferrals built into Ohtani’s deal were reportedly designed at his request to ensure the Dodgers can remain competitive and sign other major players in the near future. For instance, shortly after signing Ohtani, the team finalized a $136.5 million extension with starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow.
The diverse calculations for his 2024 salary value are largely due to how each of these sources calculate an annual earning, but the discrepancy with the QO figure is important for other salaries across Major League Baseball.
The MLB QO is a league-wide figure worth the mean salary of the 125 highest-paid players. Under certain conditions, teams can make a one-year QO at that value to impending free agents. So, even though Ohtani just set a record for the most money in sports history, his unique contract structure means that its impact on other MLB players faced with a QO will be relatively small.
“For purposes of the QO, his salary in his first year with the Dodgers will be calculated as $28 million,” Rosenthal explained. “Even this year, the negative impact of Ohtani’s choice will be minimal. If his salary for QO purposes was $20 million higher, the difference when divided by 125 would be only $160,000 — a sum that likely would not influence a club’s decision to make the offer or a player’s decision to accept.”
Shohei Ohtani Could Play the Outfield for Los Angeles Dodgers
GettyShohei Ohtani with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
As Ohtani looks to return to the field in 2024 after undergoing a UCL procedure to end his 2023 season, he might not be limited to a designated hitter role.
“There was even a little talk with Shohei about, come September when he can pick up a baseball and throw, would he be open to taking some balls out there in left field?” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said during a recent appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show.” “[Ohtani] said, ‘If it works and my arm feels OK, I’m open to it.’ So we’ll see, but we’ve got a lot of time before we get to that point.”
Ohtani has played left field in a few professional games in the past. If he does return to take over an outfield spot for the Dodgers, it would open up more flexibility for Roberts.
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Shohei Ohtani Contract Has 3 Different ‘Official’ 2024 Salary Values