Current:Home > MarketsHow Shohei Ohtani can opt out of his $700 million contract with Los Angeles Dodgers -ValueMetric
How Shohei Ohtani can opt out of his $700 million contract with Los Angeles Dodgers
View
Date:2025-04-17 00:28:07
Shohei Ohtani's record-setting $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers allows him to opt out if owner Mark Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman leave the organization, according to an official with knowledge of the deal.
The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced.
The opt-out is another unique part of of Ohtani's 10-year contract, the richest in baseball history.
The $700 million deal includes $680 million in deferred money, meaning the two-way superstar will be paid just $2 million per year for the next 10 years before getting the rest in installments from 2034 to 2043.
Giving him the opportunity to depart if the organization changes course in the years to come, the opt-outs provide Ohtani with security for the length of his deal.
HOT STOVE UPDATES: MLB free agency: Ranking and tracking the top players available.
It's believed to be the first time this provision has been included in a player's contract, an MLB executive told USA TODAY Sports.
The contract states that "if specific change in Dodger personnel, player may opt out of contract at end of season the change occurs."
While this contract clause is new ground for a player, it's been done by managers. Notably, Joe Maddon was allowed to opt out of his deal with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2014 – due to Friedman leaving for the Dodgers.
Ohtani will be introduced at Dodger Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Andrew Friedman, Mark Walter lead Dodgers
Friedman has been with the Dodgers' front office since departing Tampa Bay and the team has made the playoffs every year since, winning the 2020 World Series. Friedman became the then-Devil Rays' general manager at the age of 28 before the 2006 season and helped assemble a team that reached World Series in 2008.
Walter was part of the ownership group that bought the franchise in 2012. The club's chairman is also a co-owner of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and Chelsea FC in the English Premier League. He owns all six teams in the Professional Women's Hockey League, which he helped found and begins play in 2024.
veryGood! (122)
Related
- Meet 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao, the youngest Olympian competing in Paris
- El Salvador Just Became The First Country To Accept Bitcoin As Legal Tender
- Xbox mini fridges started as a meme. Now they're real, and all sold out
- John Travolta's Emotional Oscars 2023 Nod to Olivia Newton-John Will Bring a Tear to Your Eye
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- The history and future of mRNA vaccine technology (encore)
- The history and future of mRNA vaccine technology (encore)
- Heidi Klum Wows in Yellow Dress at Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscars 2023 Party
- Clay Aiken's son Parker, 15, makes his TV debut, looks like his father's twin
- Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party 2023 Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as the Stars Arrive
Ranking
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Transcript: Rep. Mike Turner on Face the Nation, April 16, 2023
- There's an app to help prove vax status, but experts say choose wisely
- They got hacked with NSO spyware. Now Israel wants Palestinian activists' funding cut
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Hailey Bieber's Oscars Party Look Proves You Should Never Say Never to a Classic Black Gown
- Migrant deaths in Mediterranean reach highest level in 6 years
- Halle Berry and Boyfriend Van Hunt's Relationship Blooms on the 2023 Oscars Red Carpet
Recommendation
Elon Musk’s Daughter Vivian Calls Him “Absolutely Pathetic” and a “Serial Adulterer”
Halle Berry and Boyfriend Van Hunt's Relationship Blooms on the 2023 Oscars Red Carpet
See Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor Turn Oscars 2023 Party Into Date Night
Executions surge in Iran in bid to spread fear, rights groups say
Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
POV: Chris Olsen, Tinx and More Social Media Stars Take Over Oscars 2023
Transcript: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Face the Nation, April 16, 2023
We're Soaring, Flying Over Vanessa Hudgens and Ex Austin Butler's Oscars After-Party Run-In