The contract Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last week includes a historic amount of deferred money, but the approach is hardly a new one for the team.
Mookie Betts also has major deferrals in the 12-year, $365 million contract he signed with the Dodgers back in 2020. As Brandon Wile of The Score notes, Betts will be paid $11 million per year by the Dodgers from 2040 through 2044. That means the team will be paying Betts and Ohtani nearly $80 million combined when both are in their late-40s.