Baseball has always been Americans’ favorite pastime, with the biggest stars mostly homegrown. However, the script got a major rewrite in 2024 when a Japanese star not only outperformed the American rival but also showed the world what he is capable of. And the rest was history—it’s now Shohei Ohtani’s world, and we all are living in it. But do you know that Shohei Ohtani could have easily landed a massive 15-year deal?
Well, Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, made this reveal. It could have easily taken him through to 44 years of age and, more importantly, allowed him to remain a Dodgers star for long, which many players dreamt of. However, Shohei Ohtani showed no interest in it, declining such a massive offer.
Any guesses for the reason behind it?
Well, during a recent conference where all the major decision-makers in sports, finance, and entertainment were present at the Intuit Dome, Nez Balelo opened up on Shohei Ohtani’s ten-year, $700 million contract that he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023. Comparing him with Juan Soto, who went even bigger with his 15-year, $765 million deal, Balelo said, “We wouldn’t do anything different. He won a championship. He went to the right team. No regrets.”
But there’s a twist to it!
While the majority of Ohtani’s money is deferred, including the net present value of $461 million, as per the luxury tax threshold, for Soto, no amount is deferred. More importantly, as a dollar holds more value now than it did ten years ago, the actual value of Ohtani is just $460 million, while Soto’s contractual value remains the same.
While it may be a bad thing for Ohtani, hinting that he might have gone for a much longer deal, Balelo said, “But Shohei wanted to always kind of keep the integrity of where he’s at as a player. He just didn’t want to have the end of his storybook career tail off and then in years 13, 14 and 15, it’s just like, who is this guy? You can’t even run down first and he’s not a guy anymore.”
Let’s not forget that Shohei Ohtani spent a considerable amount of time with the Los Angeles Angels (first six seasons). It was in 2021 when Ohtani won the first MVP award, making him a “global superstar“ by Balelo. However, the extension didn’t happen, as Balelo decided to exercise their rights to let him go into free agency.
And as we all know, the rest was history. “The Dodgers gave us their word that’s what they were going to do,” Balelo further said, hinting at how the Dodgers made way for him to continue as the two-way player. However, Ohtani has always put his team first, and that’s why the money deferred could be used by the club to bring in more players, too.
Following such a massive claim, Ohtani’s agent also voices his concern about the huge number of endorsements that Ohtani has been part of for so long.
Will the endorsement deals take a toll on Shohei Ohtani’s performance?
According to Sportico, Shohei Ohtani has been involved with multiple brands across the globe, including New Balance, Epic Games, Beats, Fanatics, Kose Cosmetics, Seiko watches, and many more. With a projection of $100 million alone through sponsorships, Ohtani’s endorsement figure might well surpass the payroll of some smaller MLB teams, cementing him as one of the top endorsers in MLB.
Nez Balelo said, “Yeah, absolutely, those are real numbers. It continues to take on a life of its own,” indicating how Ohtani has endorsed these brands based on his usage of the products and his focus on the infield performance. However, stressing the impact of it, he said, “We just have to make sure that we don’t overexpose him or put him in a situation where it’s too heavy a lift.”
And it’s true. Too much of anything can’t be good. Given the way Shohei Ohtani has been performing as a batter mostly nowadays and not as a two-way player, these endorsements might take a toll on his performance in the long run. However. Ohtani has still managed to bat at a .296 average, with 11 home runs, 16 RBIs, .405, and a 1.032 OPS.
Once he gets back into the groove, there’s no stopping him either. Do you think Ohtani made a mistake not going for a longer deal?
