Shohei Ohtani’s historic 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers shocked the MLB world, especially when it was revealed that $680 million of that deal will be deferred without interest. That means that Ohtani will only be making $2 million a year over the next 10 years in Los Angeles in an attempt to make it easier for the Dodgers to make the team better.
While the entire world couldn’t believe that Ohtani agreed to this kind of contract structure, Ohtani’s agent Nez Balelo said that shouldn’t be the case. In fact, it was Ohtani who first suggested that they structure the contract as such.
“Nobody should be surprised,” Balelo told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci. “Everything he does is unique and impeccably well thought out. Who in their right mind gets to this level and decides he wants to help the team and the city compete above all else and basically says, ‘I don’t need it.’ Nobody does that. But there is nobody like him. This is the epitome of thinking about others, of pure intentions.”
