Shohei Ohtani Rumors: MLB Insider Projects Two-Way Superstar To Get $600 Million This Offseason
The biggest question on everyone’s mind is where free agent Shohei Ohtani will end up signing, and how much will he get. There has been a lot of talk about the two-way superstar receiving the largest deal in baseball history, but after suffering a torn UCL, the injury may complicate things.
Ohtani has been expected to receive at least $500 million on his new contract, but his injury is limiting him to being just a hitter for next season. He plans to return to the mound in 2025, but nobody knows for sure how it will impact his abilities.
However, MLB insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post doesn’t see the torn UCL impacting the new contract at all. He put together contract predictions for most of the top-tier players on the open market, and he believes that Ohtani could get an extraordinary amount on his new deal.
“Expert 1: $535M, 11 years. Expert 2: $400M, 10 years (opt-out after 2024). Me: $600M, 10 years.”
Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post
Heyman has Ohtani receiving $600 million from a team, which would be unheard of in any sport. Nobody has touched the $500 million mark yet, so an additional $100 million is insane — but Ohtani is unlike any player we have ever seen before.
There are only a handful of teams that could afford a price like this, including the Dodgers. But even they likely have an amount that they won’t go over. And it has been reported that money isn’t the priority for Ohtani this offseason, winning is.
Assuming that he can come back in 2025 to pitch, you are paying for two players essentially, which is why teams may pay big money for him. We won’t know how much his elbow injury will affect things contract-wise, but we could see more incentive-based deals being offered.
“The elbow injury that will limit him to hitting in ’24 won’t prevent a record deal — although, true or not, some speculate he knows where he wants to go before even hearing every offer.”
Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post
If Ohtani were to receive $500 million it would be a win for him, and it would boost the value of the players immensely. However, $600 million would be an amount that nobody thought possible — but then again, Ohtani has done things on the baseball field that nobody has thought possible.
It remains to be seen what the contract will look like, but Ohtani remains a different type of free agent from anything the industry has ever seen.
Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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Owners need to put a stop to this. It’s out of hand. I hope whatever team gives him 50-60 million per year never wins a title and goes bankrupt…. U must stop this..
Nobody even knows if he will be a 2 way player again. How long will it take for him to be able to hit everyday? Definitely will be on a pitch count and innings limit. Will he be an effective pitcher? The only contract that seems reasonable would be one with incentives, benchmarks and opt outs.
There are not many people better at spending other people’s money than sportswriters. From a. business standpoint Othani is not going to put that many more butts in the seats. He is not a two-way player as of today. He can’t guarantee a championship by himself (Anaheim the last 6 years). For 600 million dollars you could buy that championship team with more certainty than betting on one player. If Othani wants 600 million let him play somewhere else!!