Shohei Ohtani Reportedly Deferring $680M of $700M Dodgers Contract Stuns MLB Fans

The MLB world was shocked by the details of Shohei Ohtani's record-breaking $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Ohtani will defer $68 million per year of his $70 million annual salary over the course of his 10-year contract. The deferred money will be paid to him without interest from 2034 through 2043, meaning that he'll earn roughly $2 million per year over the next decade.

This will allow the Dodgers to have much more financial flexibility to build the roster around Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. Baseball fans were extremely surprised by the unorthodox structure of the deal.

This allows the Dodgers to pursue free agents such as Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto as Los Angeles was already interested in him prior to the details of Ohtani's contract being released, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Although Yamamoto is expected to receive a contract worth roughly $300 million, the team can easily afford to hand out that money considering Ohtani will be making just $2 million next season (via USA Today's Bob Nightengale).