How much money have Dodgers deferred this offseason and how does it affect the future?
Baseball salary deferrals are nothing new; for examples spanning decades, see your Ken Griffey Jr., Bobby Bonillas, Chris Davis, and Stephen Strasburgs. However, the Dodgers took things to the next level this offseason (and even trailed into the first few games of the year). Teoscar
Hernández took $8.5 million in deferrals on his one-year, $23.5 million agreement, after Shohei Ohtani took a historic $680 million in deferrals (out of a total of $700 million). When they gave Will Smith a 10-year, $140 million extension with $50 million delayed from 2034 to 2043, they continued it.
The Dodgers have more pledged money on the back burner than any other team in the game, despite the fact that the Mets will be paying out JD Martinez’s one-year, $12 million contract through 2038. The contracts of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman also contain deferrals, which leaves LA with a staggering $865.5 million in unpaid wages between 2028 and 2040 (subscription required). Of course, this was not done carelessly. According to reports, Ohtani proposed his own deferrals in order to prevent the Dodgers from surpassing yet another luxury tax cap and to give them time to develop around him. And they have a building
Although deferrals are a tactless way to avoid luxury tax penalties, they also show that a team believes in the players they are giving them to. However, none of the Dodgers who have them in their contracts have caused the front office to doubt that they will be worth the money. Betts and Freeman have been Dodgers for a few years now, and nearly every season since they joined the team has been an MVP-caliber campaign.
Ohtani is an independent force; his presence alone has contributed to the Dodgers’ cultural
capital, which has already been transformed into tangible capital and will continue to do so throughout the course of his ten years with the team. Smith, a LA success story who was selected in the first round of the 2016 draft and named an All-Star in 2023, will now be a Dodger for life. Hernández is presently tied with Betts for the most home runs.
