The contract with Shohei Ohtani was unprecedented in more than one way. Apart from being the largest deal in North American sports history, it made waves due to the huge number of deferrals attached to it. With the slugger agreeing to defer $680 million to the next decade, those attached to baseball wondered whether this had created a Frankenstein’s monster. In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, famous analyst Jim Callis tackled this question.

Could this deal lead to more such contracts and even bigger deferrals? Is this fair, or should the league do something about it? These were some of the questions on everyone’s mind. But Callis had slightly different thoughts.

Shohei Ohtani: Unprecedented and non-duplicatable

During an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports’ Mohsin Baldiwala, famous Jim Callis discussed various happenings of the offseason. While discussing some memorable moments, the conversation shifted to Ohtani’s $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Referring to the 97% deferral, Callis was clear: it’s highly improbable that something like this happens again.

“I don’t think we’ll ever see a deal like Ohtani’s, probably ever again. Because you’ll have to find a guy who is making that much money in endorsement… (that) baseball salary really doesn’t matter, and he can keep deferring.” Callis said to EssentiallySports.

Shohei Ohtani is perhaps the biggest baseball star in the world. With an immense fanbase in Japan as well as the United States, he’s the sports golden boy. Due to this, the number of endorsement deals that the two-way phenomenon gets wildly overshadows nearly everyone. Estimates have ranged from $35 to $45 million regarding his income from endorsements. According to CNBC, Ohtani could be set to earn over $50 million in 2024 from brand endorsements alone.

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What this means is that despite only taking $2 million as a salary, Ohtani would remain right at the very top of the list of highest-earning MLB players. This type of stardom is unprecedented, but then, when has Ohtani done things that have been done before? His on-field career is filled with previously unseen activities, and that has extended to off-field as well.

Could there be a player who can recreate the frenzy that Ohtani currently has? Perhaps one should never say never. But many stars will have to align for that to occur, and maybe that’s why Callis was sure about a deal like Ohtani’s being an extreme rarity.

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