Shohei Ohtani Signs The Largest Contract In Baseball History With The Dodgers

Japanese star Shohei Ohtani signed a 10 year, $700 million contract with the LA Dodgers on Saturday in a historic agreement. Ohtani will make this move after 6 years of playing for cross town rival the LA Angels. Ohtani made the announcement on his Instagram.

He said: “I pledge to always do what’s best for the team and always continue to give it my all to be the best version of myself. Until the last day of my playing career, I want to continue to strive forward not only for the Dodgers but for the baseball world.”

This is the largest contract in baseball history, by quite a distance. The next highest contract in baseball history was the 12-year, $426.5 million that now-former teammate Mike Trout signed in 2019. The $70 million average annual salary also easily eclipses the previous record of $43.3 million for Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

Ohtani is the first player in baseball history to be named unanimous MVP on multiple occasions, an honor bestowed upon him twice over the past three years. He has excelled as both a pitcher and a hitter while becoming Major League Baseball’s first two-way player since Babe Ruth dabbled in both roles more than a century ago.

Ohtani’s recent injury, an new tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, required a hybrid version of Tommy John surgery. The man who performed it, wrote in a statement that Ohtani would be ready to hit “without any restrictions come opening day of 2024” and resume his role as a two-way player by 2025.

The Dodgers improved from 8-1 to 6-1 to win the World Series following Ohtani’s announcement. While baseball is a game in which one player alone cannot lead a team to a title, Ohtani is, without question, going to have a key role for the Dodgers should they make a World Series run. Star players are often overpaid. But in Shohei Ohtani’s case, the $700 billion might actually be worth it.