It was literally a shock. I thought it would be expensive, but I never expected it to soar this high. This is the story of Shohei Ohtani (29) of the Los Angeles Dodgers who signed a 10-year contract worth 700 million U.S. dollars with the Los Angeles Dodgers and held a grand joining ceremony on Tuesday (Korea time).
Ohtani, the main character who made the pitching and hitting job, which was considered impossible in the Major League, a reality, came to the market with a brilliant title of American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2021 and 2023. Until this year, it was certain that Mike Trout, a teammate, would surpass the best contract ever held in Major League history (a total of $426 million in 12 years). Attention was focusing on whether Ohtani would become the first player to break the $500 million barrier and the highest in North American sports history.
Ohtani had his second elbow surgery only after he moved to the Major League at the end of the 2023 season due to a ligament problem in his elbow. Due to this reason, he would not be able to play in 2024. However, this issue did not pose a barrier to Ohtani. As time went by, news spread that Ohtani’s value was getting higher, and an amazing contract worth 700 million dollars for 10 years and an annual average of 70 million dollars was completed.
Of course, the vast majority of them, $680 million, was deferred payment after the contract period was over. Ohtani, who aspired to win the World Series, did not want his contract to prevent liquidity for the team’s payments. Because of this, he decided to play for $20 million and receive the rest later. Due to cash inflation, analysts say the absolute value will not reach $700 million. However, it seems clear that this salary is still maintained in the luxury tax structure, and Ohtani signed a historic contract. 파워볼실시간
However, there is more to surprise the Japanese market. After the Otani contract ended, all luxury players are now focusing on Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25, Orix), who is selected as the pitcher’s biggest fish. Yamamoto, who has dominated the Japanese professional baseball league for three consecutive years, is knocking on the door of the Major League through a posting system (closed competitive bidding). Already, reactions have been explosive. As the market is already lacking S-class pitchers and the trend is that all of them are making inroads, Yamamoto’s value has reached an unrivaled level.
Initially, local media predicted that Yamamoto would sign a contract worth around 200 million U.S. dollars for seven years. This figure was even better than the record set by Masahiro Tanaka (seven years and 175 million dollars), which was the highest record when he moved to the Major League from the Asian stage. It is strange, however, that the current market conditions are quite unusual. Almost all players are stamping higher-than-expected prices, and Ohtani peaked. Naturally, Yamamoto’s expected value skyrockets.
Now, $200 million is basic, and it is expected that it could reach from the late $200 million to $300 million depending on the contract period as well as the mid-200 million dollar range. If this happens, Yamamoto can make his major league debut with a contract that will remain in the history of the Major League after Ohtani.
The highest amount of a pitcher in the history of the Major League Baseball is nine years and 324 million dollars for Gerrit Cole, who signed a contract with the New York Yankees ahead of the 2020 season. He is the first player to break the 300 million dollar barrier in the history of pitchers. The rest of the players, however, only managed to reach the 300 million dollar mark. Second place went to Steven Strasburg, who signed a contract at the same time as Cole, for a total of 245 million dollars for seven years.
Few pitchers have signed contracts worth more than 200 million dollars, including Cole and Strasburg, David Price (217 million dollars), Clayton Kershaw (215 million dollars), Max Scherzer (210 million dollars) and Jack Greinke (26.5 million dollars). Most of them have Cy Young Award experience and have been proven to have played in the league for a long time. Yamamoto appears set to surpass all of these outstanding stars from the start. It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese players have dominated the Major League transfer market.