Dodgers payroll 2024: How Los Angeles compares to rest of MLB after Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto contracts

The Dodgers have long been among MLB's top spenders. Under Mark Walter, Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Baseball Management, Los Angeles has never shied away from handing out big contracts, from star outfielder Mookie Betts to World Series champion Freddie Freeman. 

However, Shohei Ohtani's new deal with the Dodgers is the granddaddy of them all. There has been no other contract in North American sports history that compares to the pact that the Dodgers inked the two-way superstar to, signing Ohtani for 10 years at a record $700 million. 

While much of that money is deferred, the Dodgers are still on the hook for the full guarantee and added to their payroll with deals for both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.

So what's next? Well, with that kind of a contract on a team's payroll, they are sure to have one of the more expensive rosters in baseball.  

MORE SHOHEI OHTANI COVERAGE

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• Biggest contracts in sports history
• Winners and losers from Ohtani signing with Dodgers
• Projecting Dodgers' star-studded lineup for 2024
• FAGAN: Finding perspective for Ohtani's mind-blowing contract

Here is a look at the Dodgers' 2024 payroll after the Ohtani and Yamamoto contracts.

Dodgers 2024 payroll

No surprise at all here — Ohtani is set to be Los Angeles' highest-paid player. His average annual value will be a whopping $46 million a season, per The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.

That's $16 million more than Mookie Betts' salary of $30 million, which was the highest salary hit on the pre-Ohtani Dodgers roster.

But that's not the $70 million per year figure that was floated around when the terms of Ohtani's deal first came to life. The reason why? Deferrals.

Ohtani's deal will only pay him $2 million per year of annual salary, per Ardaya. Los Angeles is deferring the remainder of his deal — all $680 million — to be dispersed over the years 2034-2043.

Ohtani will net $68 million per season during that span, per reports. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the deferred payments will not have interest attached to them.

ESPN's Jeff Passan cited a source saying the "majority" of Ohtani's contract is deferred. The deferrals will affect how much is counted toward the competitive balance tax (CBT) each year, as Passan explains: 

Typically, a CBT number is the average annual value of a deal — in this case $70 million. But depending on the size and length of the deferrals, Ohtani’s CBT number is likelier to wind up in the $40-50 million-a-year range, an enormous benefit for the Dodgers.

Of course, there are quite a few players set to hit arbitration who still need new deals. The most significant names on Los Angeles' roster that fall into that category include starting pitchers Walker Buehler and Dustin May, catcher Will Smith and infielder Gavin Lux.

In addition, Ohtani is not the only free agent the Dodgers have had their eyes on, so there figure to be more players added for the upcoming season. However, none will top the Japanese superstar for No. 1 on the Dodgers' 2024 payroll. Or 2025. Or 2026. Or ... well, you get the point. 

For now, here is a look at the team's updated payroll for 2024, according to Spotrac. 

Where Dodgers' 2024 payroll ranks in MLB

Before the Ohtani deal, the Dodgers sat at No. 15 with a payroll of just under $131 million for the upcoming campaign. After? Los Angeles is seventh with a $181.2 million payroll, though that doesn't account for salaries that will be handed out during the arbitration process.

Ohtani's $70 million average annual salary is larger than the entire team payroll for two organizations last year — the Orioles and the A's. Baltimore had a payroll of just under $61 million, while Oakland had one around $53 million — though the deal doesn't count for $70 million toward the franchise's 2024 payroll.

Here is a look at what the Dodgers' pre-Ohtani payroll for 2024 looks like in comparison to the rest of MLB at this moment, according to Spotrac: