While Shohei Ohtani‘s on-field talent has rewritten baseball’s record books, his off-field earning power is now rewriting its financial hierarchy. He is headed into the new MLB season by taking the financial crown away from Juan Soto.
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According to Forbes, in 2025, Soto earned a total of $126.9M. Around $121.9 million came directly from his salary, signing bonus, and the rest from endorsements. And Shohei Ohtani has just edged past Juan Soto.
MLB reported, “Shohei Ohtani is expected to make $127M this year when you add up his salary from the Dodgers, along with endorsements and other business ventures.”
Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto are the two people with the highest contracts in MLB.
Soto’s $126.9M earnings in 2025 were because of his 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, which included a $75 million signing bonus. But for Shohei Ohtani, it is completely different.
Shohei Ohtani is expected to make $127M this year when you add up his salary from the Dodgers along with endorsements and other business ventures according to @Forbes Here are the ten highest-paid players in 2026 when adding up their salary with off-field endorsements and more.
Ohtani in 2026 stands to earn a total of $127M in which $125M will be from endorsements and only $2M from his salary. In 2026, Soto will be earning a total of $51.9M with $7M endorsements, but that is nowhere close to what Ohtani is making. But it’s not just Soto.
He is leagues above everyone else.
In MLB, the players who come close to Ohtani in endorsements are Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper, with $9M each. This gap shows that his marketing value is far beyond anything baseball has ever seen. It explains why so many top brands like New Balance, Seiko, and Hugo Boss have his signature.
As if that wasn’t enough.
In 2025, reports from Joon Lee shocked the world.
Per Lee, the Los Angeles Dodgers made back the full value of Ohtani’s contract in just one season. Yes, they made $700M in just one season, just by signing Ohtani. His presence has been so good that even tourism from Japan to LA increased by 90%.
But the Ohtani-Soto clash is there on the plate, as well.
Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto will clash for the NL MVP in 2026
Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge enter 2026 chasing history. Aaron Judge enters the season with three MVPs and is chasing his 4th. For Ohtani, it is a completely different game. Ohtani is chasing after his fifth total MVP title and his fourth consecutive.
Only one man has four straight MVPs, and that is Barry Bonds. Beating this record will just be another record in Ohtani’s name.
But if we shift our focus to the NL, Ohtani is the favorite at -130 to win the MVP. It is historically rare for a player to have minus odds before the Opening Day.
The closest to him is Juan Soto, who comes in at +750 odds. Soto finished third in 2025 with 231 points, while Ohtani had 420 points, making him the unanimous winner.
His two-way playing abilities make his dethroning difficult. In 2026, Ohtani is expected to hit around 48 homers and finish the season with a sub-3.00 ERA and 138-150 strikeouts.
To dethrone Ohtani, Juan Soto will need to have a season that hasn’t been seen in MLB, and still, that will give him a small edge.