Shohei Ohtani sent a tremor through professional sports on Saturday afternoon when he declared his decision to sign a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on his Instagram account.
Ohtani’s contract is the highest in Major League Baseball history, according to ESPN, surpassing Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million agreement with the Los Angeles Angels. It also tops Patrick Mahomes’ 10-year, $450 million contract as the highest contract ever signed by a major professional athlete.
Ohtani’s annual salary of $70 million also exceeds the previous record set by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, who received an average annual value of $43.3 million from the New York Mets last season, and is greater than the Opening Day payrolls of the Baltimore Orioles ($60.9 million) and Oakland Athletics ($56.9 million).
It’s difficult to imagine how much the Dodgers will pay Ohtani in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Twins set a franchise record with a $156 million Opening Day payroll last season. Following a loss of about $55 million (or 78 percent of Ohtani’s annual salary) in television revenue at the expiration of their contract with Bally Sports North, Dan Hayes of The Athletic forecasts that the Twins’ Opening Day payroll in 2024 might range between $125 million and $140 million.
The good news is that if the Twins come out on top, their payroll for next season will be double Ohtani’s annual contract. The bad news is that Ohtani’s compensation eclipses some of the franchise’s highest-ever figures.
