Baseball fans SLAM Shohei Ohtani’s ‘league-killing deal’ after it was revealed he will defer $680m of his eye-watering $700m contract… as rival supporters blast MLB’s ‘downright laughable’ decision to give green light

The fallout from the Shohei Ohtani deal could lead to drastic changes for the league after the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a contract with the superstar that has an intriguing payout structure.

The Dodgers officially announced late Monday night that they had signed Ohtani in free agency, but key details of his 10-year, $700 million contract were reported before that was made official.

According to multiple reports, Ohtani will defer payments on the $680 million portion of his deal after it expires – meaning he will receive an average annual salary of just $2 million per year.

After that, he will be paid $68 million annually between 2034 and 2043.

This will accomplish a number of things. First, the Dodgers won't have to pay the luxury tax on Ohtani's contract while he plays for them.

Ohtani will defer $680 million of the $700 million he is owed – meaning he will get about $2 million per year

Another reason the Dodgers agreed to this is so they can continue to build around Ohtani while deferring his otherwise huge payments.

Ohtani also won't have to pay California taxes on his income if he moves somewhere else when his deal expires.

Needless to say, this is a very strategic accounting by the Dodgers – and a very bold deal on Ohtani's part – that has fans of the sport outraged.

Some are calling it a deal that will destroy baseball as we know it. Others praised the Dodgers for their cunning.

“Allowing this Ohtani contract will be very, very bad for baseball,” one Twitter user wrote. “It was already difficult in small and medium markets and this will only make it worse. Baseball continues to commit suicide and that makes me sad.”

Another user said, “Embarrassingly bad for the MLB. Unbelievable for Ohtani and his agent. It's downright laughable that MLB let this pass. This is a killer deal for the league. The disparity between franchises will only increase. So bad for baseball.”

“Ohtani killing the sport he was praised for is poetry,” another post said.

Another message said in part that these deals “set precedents,” adding, “Agents and MLBPA should be 100 (percent) concerned about these becoming standard contract terms. It comes at the expense of the value players get, and not every player is that lucky when Ohtani is off the field.”

Fans on social media were up in arms over the structure of the deal's deferred payments

One message praised the Dodgers, saying, “Everyone is going crazy over the Shohei Ohtani deal, but the reality is LA just opened up a cheat code for every other MLB team that wants to keep their star player. It's a shame for any team not to take advantage of this loophole.”

MLB officials and the MLBPA won't be able to challenge the deal Ohtani agreed to — thanks in part to the collective bargaining agreement.

As pointed out by ESPN Jeff PassanArticle