Dodgers Manager Calls Shohei Ohtani’s $700 Million Contract a ‘Steal’ for LA

The on-field results (two MVP awards, two World Series titles) of the Ohtani era are only half the story.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game four of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 15, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dave Roberts talks to the media twice a day, nearly every day, from the middle of February until roughly the end of October every year. The Los Angeles Dodgers' manager is good at zooming out on the team's overall situation, and those of individual players.

But rarely is Roberts asked to consider the perspective of the Dodgers' business operations — marketing, ticket sales — and the effect of one particular player on the team's success as a brand.

Shohei Ohtani was the subject of a feature by Spectrum News California. Lisa Ling profiled Ohtani's off-the-field impact on the Dodgers' business enterprise. The segment canvassed the opinions of Japanese tourists who had come to Los Angeles — Santa Monica, actually — to raid a Dodgers merchandise store.

Roberts, in a rare moment of the division between church and state dissolving, acknowledged Ohtani's outsized impact beyond his on-the-field performance.

"Certainly the generational talent [of Ohtani], once in a lifetime talent showing on your team makes you competitively better, but the other side of it with baseball — it's the baseball operation side and there's the business side and they're equally as important, right?" Roberts said. "And so getting Sho and then what we thought the revenue was going to be, the awareness, the excitement, it's really 10 times what we even anticipated. So that $700 million, Lisa, is a steal."

It's not even $700 million. Because of the deferred money in his contract — a total of $680 million over 10 years — Ohtani's present-day contract valuation was estimated at $437,830,563 by the MLB Players Association in December 2023.

Ostensibly, the Dodgers will make that back and then some. Roberts doesn't have to worry about it, but he gets it.

Speaking to reporters prior to Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 14, Roberts acknowledged that managing Ohtani is unlike managing any other player on the team.

"It's different than any player, you might argue, in any sport right now because he's a global phenomenon," Roberts said. "So anything he does is newsworthy, I understand that. You've got to be careful with your words because things get taken out of context, which I understand.

"Certainly it's tougher to manage [Ohtani] and I've got to be mindful. But man, this guy is great for our game. He's great for all of us."

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