It’s official now that the Philadelphia Phillies can deny any rumors about Shohei Ohtani that had been circulating for part of the offseason.
With the signing of a historic 10-year, $700 million contract, the Japanese phenom will become the player with the largest guaranteed salary guarantee in North American sports history with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Now that we are aware of the contract that Ohtani was given, it is clear why the Phillies appeared to be getting farther away from signing the superstar with every week that went by.
According to Spotrac, Philadelphia will have a salary of about $223 million for the 2024 campaign. As a result, they have the second-highest payroll among all Major League Baseball teams.
It would have been extremely difficult for them to take care of other needs the roster has now and in the future if they had signed Ohtani to a deal that size.
After signing Aaron Nola to a seven-year contract extension, Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, stated he doesn’t believe the Phillies have many holes in their lineup coming into the new year.
Still, it’s safe to say that every baseball executive wished they could have added Ohtani.
Being a great pitcher and hitter, he is the best player in the game.
Jeff Passan of ESPN offers an intriguing observation regarding the way the Dodgers are arranging the superstar’s contract.
“A source claimed that Shohei Ohtani came up with the idea for the sizable deferrals in his contract, which include the majority of his salary. By delaying the payment, the Dodgers will be able to improve their team around him and lower the cost of the competitive balance tax hit, according to him.
Would Philadelphia have pursued the phenom more vigorously if they had known this?
Maybe.
Under this Ohtani contract structure, they would have been able to stay competitive and add future pieces if needed.
Even with owner John Middleton’s extravagant spending, however, it may have been too much to add a historic deal to an already massive payroll.
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