Major League Baseball

The $700 million man: Social media reacts to Shohei Ohtani's historic Dodgers contract

Updated Dec. 9, 2023 7:37 p.m. ET

Shohei Ohtani is going to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a longtime favorite to sign the two-way superstar.

Much more surprising? After speculation that Ohtani would receive somewhere in the neighborhood of a record-breaking $550 million to $600 million despite being limited to a designated hitter role in 2024 as he recovers from his second Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers are reportedly giving Ohtani $700 million over 10 years.

(Well, kind of. The contract contains a heavy amount of deferred money that was Ohtani's idea in order to relieve the year-to-year financial burden on Los Angeles, according to MLB on FOX insider Ken Rosenthal.)

But the staggering dollar amount — which is the most guaranteed money given to an athlete in North American sports history (excluding factors like equity stakes, which Lionel Messi received in Apple and Adidas as part of his MLS contract with Inter Miami) by a wide margin — still stunned fans and athletes across social media.

Among those reacting included NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes, who Ohtani joined in an exclusive fraternity of athletes to sign contract worth over $400 million guaranteed.

Other current and former athletes were also stunned by the amount Ohtani received.

Ohtani's new Dodgers teammate Walker Buehler, however, had some questions about Ohtani's dog after an unsubstantiated rumor that its name was being kept under wraps as it could tip his hand as to what team he would sign with.

Buehler isn't the only one of Ohtani's new teammates keen on knowing more about him.

Plenty of others on social media, however, were taken aback at that dollar amount.

To put it all in perspective…

Meanwhile, the Dodgers now have three former MVPs, with Ohtani joining fellow stars Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts at the top of Los Angeles' lineup.

Additionally, luminaries such as Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson and U.S. senator Alex Padilla, who grew up a Dodgers fan in Los Angeles, also congratulated the team.

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