Shohei Ohtani signed a deferred contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. By now, you know the story. Ohtani will be paid for decades, but also gave the Dodgers a break – his AAV is just $2 million for the first 10 years of his contract. After that, he will be paid $68 million per year until his $700 million price tag is reached.
Essentially, Ohtani wants the Dodgers to win when he is on the team, and doesn't really care how they afford him when he's off of it. That's oversimplifying things, surely, but Ohtani is the best bargain in sports. He is the rare player who can negotiate with owners on an even playing field, knowing full well he will eventually match their status thanks to his contract, endorsements and more. In fact, he's the only baseball player who can do so.
However, what we don't know about Ohtani's contract is whether there are incentives. Ohtani just won his second-straight NL MVP with the Dodgers. Did he get some extra dough as a result?
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Shohei Ohtani's contract is vague, just how he likes it
This is not an Ohtani hit piece. If his goal was to win during his playing career and receive most of his money after, then he succeeded. What we don't know is if Ohtani receives incentives for winning a World Series, MVP or Cy Young.
However, contract incentives are not added to every MLB contract. Ohtani will eventually make $700 million from the Dodgers. Aaron Judge, for example, does not have an incentive in his contract for winning an AL MVP, per Front Office Sports. He's won two straight, but signed a nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees that doesn't force them to pay up whenever he achieves individual greatness.
When asked for comment about Ohtani's deal, CAA did not respond in time for publication. Again, that can only help the Dodgers, as keeping Shohei's deal a relative mystery benefits them more than most organizations.
Why Shohei Ohtani's deal is a giant favor to the Dodgers
The Dodgers have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. Ohtani, who signed the largest contract in MLB history, is a test case in how far any organization will go to win. He is baseball's best player, and assuming we don't know how much he earned for winning his fourth MVP – or any MVP at all for that matter – will only help Los Angeles in future negotiations.
Again, I do not know if Ohtani's contract gifts him extra money for individual awards. But, when negotiating with the likes of Kyle Tucker and others this winter, keeping those details private will only help the Dodgers as it doesn't give agents any comparisons to work off of.
Ohtani has four MVPs after securing the NL award on Thursday night. If he received, say, a $250,000 reward for winning, other players could use that information to their advantage when signing in Los Angeles. Instead, Ohtani's contract remains the ultimate ploy, as he only earns $2 million AAV during his playing career. This gives the Dodgers all kinds of flexibility they wouldn't otherwise have.
Whether it be Tucker or another free agent in search of a big contract, the Dodgers can use Ohtani as an example of what it takes to win a World Series. Whether he receives incentives or not will be a talking point for agents trying to get the best deal for their client. If we don't know, it's unlikely other agents do, either.