Already the winner of MLB free company, the Dodgers may not be accomplished. After including Shohei Ohtani, coveted Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto might be subsequent.
The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya supplied particulars of the staff’s historic $700m contract for Ohtani, which shockingly defers $680M till the tip of his deal.
Meaning he’ll make $2M per season over the subsequent 10 seasons, or $1,280,000 greater than the MLB minimum salary.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan famous the unprecedented construction is authorized, with the league’s collective bargaining settlement explicitly stating, “There shall be no limitations on … deferred compensation.”
These financial savings will enable Los Angeles to spend much more in free company.
The Dodgers have a loaded lineup with Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman main the way in which. Nonetheless, their rotation wants work, particularly with Ohtani unable to pitch in 2024 attributable to his elbow damage.
This season, Dodgers beginning pitchers ranked twentieth in ERA, twenty second in strikeouts per 9 innings and twenty fourth in house runs allowed per 9 innings.
Ohtani’s deferred compensation offers the Dodgers monetary flexibility to swing massive on different free brokers, together with Yamamoto, who performed in Japan’s Western and Pacific Leagues for the Orix Buffaloes from 2017-23. In seven seasons, he had a 75-30 document with a 1.72 earned run common.
On Sunday, Passan wrote, “Including him and Ohtani is not out of the query.”
Due to the unorthodox construction of Ohtani’s contract, these probabilities have elevated.