Money talks

Breaking down the historic Ohtani deal

2-time MVP Shohei Ohtani announced Saturday he’d agreed to terms to join the Dodgers after 6 seasons with the Angels. (Photo courtesy of AP.)

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Before we dive into some of the stunning numbers on Shohei Ohtani’s record-breaking deal with the Dodgers, I want to add one caveat:

While Ohtani took to Instagram to announce the agreement Saturday afternoon, the Dodgers have yet to comment on the deal. There has been no official announcement from the team.

The reason for that is likely that, once terms were agreed upon, the player and club scheduled an extensive physical examination that will have to be completed before the contract is finalized and announced.

I’m not suggesting Ohtani is going to fail his physical and that the deal will be off, but with the amount of money on the line you can be sure the Dodgers and their doctors will be very thorough in their examination.

It’s standard operating procedure for teams to not make official announcements until after completing a player’s physical (just like teams generally do not announce a player has been promoted from the minor leagues until he arrives to join the big league club). Things have occasionally gotten dicey when news comes out prematurely.

Remember Carlos Correa’s large free agent contracts with both the Mets and Giants fell through after physical examinations last offseason.

I’m not saying it’s likely to happen in this instance, but it is important to note that, technically, Ohtani to the Dodgers is not yet 100 percent set in stone.

For the purposes of this post, however, we’ll proceed under the assumption the deal will be finalized in the days ahead.

So, without further ado, on to to our regularly scheduled post, a look at the magnitude of an agreement worth a reported $700 million over the next 10 years.

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WHAT ELSE COULD YOU HAVE DONE WITH $700 MILLION? WELL, YOU COULD HAVE BOUGHT A TEAM (OR 10).

If the $700 million price tag on Ohtani’s 10-year contract is accurate, the Dodgers will pay Ohtani more over the life of the deal than what 24 of the 30 current major league owners reportedly paid to purchase their franchises.

The only clubs to have been purchased by their current owners for more than $700 million:

• Padres ($800 million in 2012)

• Cubs ($845 million in 2009)

• Royals ($1 billion in 2020)

• Marlins ($1.2 billion in 2017)

• Dodgers ($2 billion in 2012)

• Mets ($2.475 billion in 2020)

• Those 6 clubs represent the last 5 and 6 of the last 9 to be sold.

• In 2002, John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino purchased the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and the New England Sports Network for $660 million, $40 million less than what a single player will make 2 decades later.

• The current owners of the Rays, Mariners, Giants, Rockies, Pirates, Tigers, Twins, Phillies, White Sox and Yankees paid less to purchase those 10 teams COMBINED, than Ohtani will be paid over the next 10 seasons.