Just one offseason after stunning the sports world by signing Shohei Ohtani to a then-North American sports record, $700 million contract, the Los Angeles Dodgers followed it up by spending more than $450 million in guaranteed money this offseason to upgrade a roster that won the 2024 World Series with a class of free agency imports headlined by two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
The Dodgers have more than $2 billion worth of guaranteed money tied up in just seven players on its roster, an unprecedented half of which the franchise has decided to dole out in deferred payments through 2046. The Dodgers' wealth—they possess MLB's highest payroll by a wide margin—and strategy of deferred payments has allowed the club to stockpile talent, while also irking the fanbases of smaller market teams.
