6 players on the Braves' roster whose salaries add up to Shohei Ohtani's deal
Putting some context into just how crazy Shohei Ohtani's contract is with a Braves spin.
While the Atlanta Braves have been wheeling and dealing this offseason, the elephant in the room for the rest of the league was the fate of Shohei Ohtani's free agency. Yesterday, after a lot of twists and turns and drama and false reports, it was finally revealed that Ohtani was heading to the Dodgers on a massive $700 million deal.
That kind of money in the game of baseball or any sport really is completely insane. The previous largest contract in MLB belonged to Mike Trout who got over $426 million in an extension from the Angels and Shohei didn't just beat that mark, he completely demolished it. The $70 million average salary he will receive over the course of his deal (yes yes, there are deferrals...but talking strictly about how much money he is getting versus the years he is under contract here) beats the total team payrolls of several MLB teams in 2024. The $700 million total number is more than the net worth of some MLB team owners. Again, insane.
To provide some context for just how nutty Shohei's deal with the Dodgers is, let's take a look at how it stacks up against the contracts that the Braves have on their books right now.
Here are the 6 Braves contracts that combined are worth as much as Shohei's contract
First, some rules clarifications. This is strictly about guaranteed dollars and we are talking about the total values of contracts, not what is left on said contracts. Frankly, going through and subtracting previous years salaries from some of these deals is too much of a pain to deal with. That also means that club options aren't included because they aren't guaranteed money, although some of these guys will very likely get club options exercised if their current trajectories hold. Finally, there are a number of permutations of Braves contracts that can get you to Shohei's deal, this is just one example.
Anyways, on to the list.
Austin Riley - 10 years, $212 million
The Braves are unique in the game of baseball has they have been particularly adept at signing their young players to lengthy and team-friendly contract extensions. The most expensive deal that they have inked during this period of time was the extension given to Austin Riley back in 2022. This is a deal that includes a club option for 2033, so the previous caveats do apply here as well. It is the biggest deal in franchise history and it is still less than a third of what Ohtani just got from the Dodgers.
Matt Olson - Eight years, $168 million
When the Braves traded for Matt Olson, it came in the wake of the departure of Braves icon Freddie Freeman in free agency and fans were understandably concerned. However, the Braves were so sold on Olson's ability that they immediately gave him an eight year extension worth $168 million. Olson's first season with the Braves was a mixed bag, but he bounced back in a big way last season to hit 54 home runs and finish fourth in the NL MVP voting. His contract is looking like a fantastic deal right now, but only gets us a little over halfway to Shohei's money when combined with Riley's deal.
Ronald Acuna Jr. - Eight years, $100 million
Basically everyone is still shocked that the Braves managed to get Ronald Acuna Jr. to sign his eight year, $100 million deal in 2019, but there is a rationale on Acuna's side. Signing a deal that early in his career gives him financial security in the event of a career-threatening injury and takes the uncertainty of arbitration completely out of the equation. The Braves did tack on two $17 million club options on the end of the deal which makes what already looks like an absolute bargain for one of the best players in baseball look even better.
Spencer Strider - Six years, $75 million
The Braves have been pretty reticent to hand out long-term deals to pitchers on Alex Anthopoulos and that makes a certain amount of sense given the injury-risk associated with the position. However, Spencer Strider's arm talent was too much for the Braves to ignore, so they locked him into a six year, $75 million extension towards the end of the 2022 season. Strider already has a second place NL Rookie of the Year finish as well as getting fourth place in NL Cy Young voting this year on his resume and it sure seems like there is more to come out of him, but we still need over $140 million to get to Shohei's contract.
Michael Harris II - Eight years, $72 million
Yet another coup for the Braves front office was the extension that Michael Harris II signed. Yet another VERY team friendly deal, eight years at $72 million looked like a heist when Harris narrowly edged out Strider for Rookie of the Year in 2022. The start to the 2023 season went very poorly for Money Mike, but he rebounded to post an .808 OPS and 3.4 rWAR in 2023 while falling just two homers shy of a 20/20 season. The Braves hold club options for 2031 ($15 million) and 2032 ($20 million), but again...we are only talking about guaranteed money here. Even adding Harris' deal to the total, we are still $73 million short which leads us to....
Sean Murphy - Six years, $73 million
You have to love it when a plan comes together. The Braves came out of nowhere last offseason to trade for one of the best catchers in all of baseball in Sean Murphy in a three-team swap that sent William Contreras (who was great in Milwaukee in 2023) out of town. The Braves acted quickly to lock down Murph to a six year, $73 million extension and cementing him as the Braves' catcher of the future. Murphy looked like a legitimate MVP candidate in the first half of 2023 before cooling down in the second half, but the Braves still have to be thrilled to have him in the fold for a little over 10% of the guarantee that it cost the Dodgers to sign Ohtani.
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