MLB Rumors: Mets Yamamoto underdog, Orioles disappointment, Ohtani's contract caveat

MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani's deferred money

On Monday night, Shohei Ohtani's deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers became official. The two sides had agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract. Ohtani won't be able to pitch in 2024, but he'll still be able to bring his powerful bat to the Dodgers lineup.

However, there is an interesting caveat to Ohtani's contract, which has become the talk of the town around the baseball world. According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, Ohtani will have $680 million deferred. This means that over the course of the 10-year deal, he will receive only $2 million annually and $20 million in total. The rest of the money will be paid after the contract expires.

In the end, the contract the Dodgers signed Ohtani to is an absolute steal. With only $2 million counting towards the team's payroll in 2024, the Dodgers have room to make other moves.

Gonzalez notes that the current collective bargaining agreement does not place any limits on how much money can be deferred in a contract. Teams do, however, have to set aside the present-day value of the deferred money. According to Gonzalez, that value is $44 million for Ohtani.

Either way, the Dodgers still have plenty of payroll space to potentially make a deal with a free agent pitcher such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto or even Blake Snell.

Los Angeles won 101 games during the regular season and cruised to an NL West title. They were however, eliminated in the NLDS, swept by the eventual National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

Julio Urias, Walker Buehler, and Tony Gonsolin were all unavailable for the postseason, and the Dodgers starting rotation was completely overmatched by that of the Diamondbacks.

But adding Ohtani to the fold, even though he is unable to pitch, should signal that the Dodgers are prepared to do more damage.