By now, you have likely heard about the remarkable way in which Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers have split up his record 10-year, $700 million contract so that it won’t cost the Dodgers anywhere near the $70 million AAV toward luxury tax that you might think it would at first glance.
Fabian Ardaya has the details in The Athletic:
In an effort to enable the Los Angeles Dodgers to continue spending around stars Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, Ohtani agreed to defer all but $2 million of his annual salary — $68 million of his $70 million per year — until after the completion of the contract.