Shohei Ohtani's Projected Contract After $30M Deal to Avoid Arbitration with Angels

For at least one more season, Shohei Ohtani is under contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

The organization announced Saturday it agreed to a one-year, $30 million deal with Ohtani for 2023, the most ever for an arbitration-eligible player.

That figure is also notable because the reigning American League MVP is due to hit free agency in 2024.

Not that it was likely to fall below that number in the first place, but Ohtani's salary for next year effectively sets a baseline for what he'll earn annually from a multiyear contract.

Mookie Betts, for example, got $27 million from the Boston Red Sox in 2020 when they avoided arbitration, and that preceded his signing a 12-year, $365 million extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers following a trade.

At $30 million, Ohtani will be tied with the San Diego Padres' Manny Machado for the 13th-highest average salary in MLB.

Of course, it will presumably take much more than that when he's a free agent. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported in June some within the Angels organization believe he'll eclipse Max Scherzer ($43.3 million annually) to become baseball's highest-paid player.

The thing with Ohtani is he could command $30-40 million as a standalone hitter or pitcher. At the plate, he's batting .276 with 34 home runs and a 149 OPS+, per Baseball Reference. On the mound, he's 15-8 with a 2.35 ERA, a 2.44 FIP and 213 strikeouts over 161 innings.

When you combine all of his skills, anything below $50 million will feel like a bargain to some degree.

Ohtani will be 29 when the 2024 season opens, and he was unable to pitch at all in 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Those two details will undoubtedly factor into whatever the Angels or another team is willing to offer.

From Ohtani's perspective, matching the 12-year term for Mike Trout's record-setting extension will be tough because you typically don't want to be paying a pitcher that much money into his 40s.

But Gerrit Cole got nine years and $324 million from the New York Yankees ahead of the 2020 season, and he was the same age Ohtani will be. The Japanese star's hitting ability also allows for him to continue contributing if an injury precludes him from pitching.

Ohtani's representatives shouldn't have much difficulty getting an offer of at least eight or nine years. Assuming that's the case, he could join Trout as the second player in MLB history to get $400 million-plus.

Saturday's news doesn't change the situation too much.