Not Mets’ Unlimited Financial Power or Yankees’ Glorious History But Shohei Ohtani’s $680 Million Deferral That Swayed Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The Los Angeles Dodgers have done it again! Emerging victorious against formidable rivals like the Yankees and the Mets, they’ve secured Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a 12-year, $325 million deal. In one of the most exciting races of the MLB offseason, the LA team kept a certain ace hidden up their sleeves to use as the ultimate move. Yamamoto’s senpai aka two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.

As the biggest acquisition in North American sports history, the Japanese star is paving the way for flexibility in future baseball contracts. It was Ohtani who ultimately played a huge part in Yamamoto’s acquisition, something the New York teams could never boast.

Shohei Ohtani – the ultimate bargaining chip

The Dodgers joined the contention for Yoshinobu Yamamoto within days of his free agency availability announcement. When the ace chose to side with the Blue Crew in the end, the biggest teams of the lot—the NY Yankees, the NY Mets, the SF Giants, the Boston Red Sox, and the Toronto Blue Jays, not to mention fans —were left dumbfounded. Considered the favorites of the list, the Dodgers’ biggest competitors were the Bronx and Queens teams, in particular. Given the amplitude of the resources both teams have and the endless barrage of efforts put into trying to clinch the players, it was a surprising outcome, to say the least.

The Dodgers have a certain two-way phenom’s influence and graceful benevolence to thank for their unprecedented Yamamoto win. Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the team just 11 days ago, has been heavily involved in boosting their rotation. When he signed the $700 million, ten-year deal, he made sure that the Dodgers had enough resources to upgrade their lineup to a point where it looked like a dazzling constellation made of star players.

According to The Athletic, Ohtani agreed to defer $680 million of his annual salary, letting the team pay him just $2 million each year until his decade-long contract faces completion. Keeping away an amount like $680 million will give any team the chance to focus the saved resources elsewhere, especially where pitching is concerned. However, that wasn’t the only factor that made the deal so impactful.

Ohtani’s willingness to keep 97% of his contract value due for a decade saved the team millions in competitive balance taxes. Naturally, it added to the Dodgers’ bonus cash flow, along with initiating a flexible payroll. The move that transpired after is just a small part of the outreach of the distinctiveness of the Dodger-Ohtani deal.

Watch This Story: Rat Race Continues Among Three Giants With $300 Million To Bring Yoshinobu Yamamoto To Their Troop

Having a revenue of $581 million and being free of the headache of consistently paying $70 million a year for just one player gave the team enough room to secure Yamamoto. The staggering $325 million for a 12-year offer is a small price to pay for success. The flexibility reflected in the Ohtani contract also gave the Dodgers the chance to pay the sky-high posting fee of $50.6 million to Yamamoto’s NPB team, the Orix Buffaloes.

Yamamoto and Ohtani’s deals crossed the team’s expenses beyond the threshold of a billion, says Jeff Passan of ESPN. Yamamoto will not be paid in deferrals, unlike Ohtani, and the latter’s monumental sacrifice made that possible. A sacrifice that wasn’t expected by the Dodgers’ rivals, the Mets, and the Yankees. They made some pretty calculated moves to clinch the 25-year-old ace themselves.

New York was all in for Japan’s best pitcher

Mets owner Steve Cohen, famous for splurging heavily on promising prospects, held a dinner this Saturday at his house to convince Yamamoto to join his team. That was part of the long list of efforts the Mets made to clinch the ace. Starting with their in-house pitcher and Yamamoto’s WBC teammate Kodai Senga’s personal demand to get Yamamoto to play with him to Cohen’s visit to Yoshi’s family in Japan, no one can point fingers at the Queens, saying they didn’t try hard enough. They did. So did their rival team, the Yankees.

Once considered as the baseball emperors of MLB, the Yankees are a $7.1 billion clubhouse. They’ve signed on players with gigantic amounts before—sometimes as a comeback to their rival team’s drafts, sometimes just for the sake of acquiring talents.

Read More: First Shohei Ohtani, Now Yoshinobu Yamamoto: How Two Japanese Stars Brought the Free Agency Market to a Standstill

So it was no surprise when the team, just like the Mets, showed no sign of stepping back when Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s free agency predictions reached the $300 million mark. The team was also a part of Yamamoto’s weekend meetings following his Mets’ dinner party.

The Pinstripes tried everything to prove their seriousness. From multiple meetings to reserving the number 18 jersey they have been holding on to for almost a year. Those familiar with Yamamoto may know he wore 18 in his NPB days. So it was a kind gesture for making the ace feel at home at Yankee Stadium. Ironically, neither the Yanks nor the Mets had a hint that the world’s biggest sports contract was going to douse their dreams down to the level of zilch.

Read More: Viral WBC Video: Dodgers Paid $25 Million More, But Yoshinobu Yamamoto Was Once a Victim of Yankees’ Alex Verdugo’s Wrath

Now that Yamamoto will be at Dodger Stadium, it’s a little disappointing to see him miss out on the Pinstripes. Or even the orange and blue.