Chelsea have habitually given out lengthy contracts since their £4.25bn takeover, but none come close to the record-breaking deal Todd Boehly’s Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to late last year.
Ohtani, 30, agreed a ten-year, $700m (£534.8m) contract as a free agent from the Los Angeles Angels. The deal is a Major League Baseball (MLB) record and is the biggest in team sports history.
However, the Japanese player has deferred $680m (£519.5m) for a decade, meaning he will receive just $2m (£1.5m) annually until 2034. That has made it the best-value contract across the regular season after another historic year for the two-time American League most valuable player (AL MVP) and four-time All-Star ahead of the playoffs.
READ MORE: Chelsea capitalise on Premier League distraction to leave transfer loophole open
READ MORE: Manager calls for end to protests against Chelsea owner Todd Boehly and says ‘my players suffer’
Off-season elbow surgery prevented Ohtani from being a two-way player this year but as a designated hitter, he managed 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, feats no one had previously managed before in league history. He is now experiencing the post-season for the first time after playing in 866 regular-season games without reaching the playoffs, the longest active streak in the league.
The Dodgers are tied 1-1 in their National League division series with the San Diego Padres. Still, regardless of whether they win the World Series for the first time since 2020 or not, the team is confident that it has a stable core of players who can deliver success.
Boehly acknowledged that when speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in May. “If you look at our top three players in the line-up, you’ve got Mookie Betts, who we signed to a ten-year contract,” he explained.
“We’ve got Shohei Ohtani batting second, who is also on a ten-year contract, and we got Freddie Freeman, who’s on an eight-year contract. With the duration that we have for those guys to develop together is really what we think makes that.”
football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel
Want to keep up to date with the breaking and important Chelsea stories whilst on the move? Well now you can!
Click this link to follow the football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel, where you’ll be kept up to date on the latest Blues news wherever you are.
Just remember to turn on the notifications once you’ve followed, and you won’t miss a beat!
