Giants Were Prepared to Match Shohei Ohtani's $700M Contract Terms Signed by Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani apparently would have been willing to defer the majority of the money in a contract with the San Francisco Giants as well.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic noted Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the team was "agreeable" to the deal Ohtani presented, which was the same one he ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the deal with Los Angeles was a massive 10-year, $700 million one, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported Ohtani will defer $68 million of the $70 million he was set to make per year until after the end of the contract. That means the Dodgers will pay out $680 million of it from 2034 to 2043 without interest.

It comes as no surprise the Giants front office would have been interested in that type of contract format.

ESPN's Jeff Passan called it a "huge discount" for the Dodgers and noted the competitive balance tax on it will be approximately $46 million. That, in turn, will presumably help Los Angeles add even more players this offseason and bolster a roster that is already among the league's best.

The Dodgers have been connected to the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and others since signing Ohtani.

Ohtani never made the playoffs during his tenure with the Los Angeles Angels, and it isn't difficult to assume his decision to join the Dodgers was largely motivated by an opportunity to win. That is especially the case if San Francisco was willing to offer the same financial structure as the Dodgers were in free agency.

Los Angeles has won the National League West in 10 of the last 11 seasons, and that stretch of success came without Ohtani.

Its lineup will now feature the two-time American League MVP alongside Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, making it all the more difficult for the Giants to close the gap in the race for a division crown.

San Francisco might have closed that gap entirely if it was the one to sign Ohtani to a contract with such drastic deferrals, but now it has to face him in the same division.