


Putting to rest weeks of increasingly feverish speculation, Shohei Ohtani announced Saturday that he has signed a historic deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, one that ranks among the largest in the historic of professional sports.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others, Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers is for 10 years, $700 million, obliterating the previous MLB record of $426.5 million set by Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout. Passan also reported the contract has significant deferrals, which will reduce his luxury tax hit and free up more money for the Dodgers to build a contender around him.
Ohtani broke the news himself on his Instagram, and his agent Nez Balelo released a statement on his behalf shortly afterwards.
“Shohei is thrilled to be a part of the Dodgers organization. He is excited to begin this partnership and he structured his contract to reflect a true commitment from both sides to long-term success,” Balelo said. “Shohei and I want to thank all the organizations that reached out to us for their interest and respect, especially the wonderful people we got to know even better as this process unfolded. We know fans, media and the entire industry had a high degree of interest in this process, and we want to express our appreciation for their passion and their consideration as it played out.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back later for further updates.