Shohei Ohtani ‘is set to receive a record $65m this season’ – making him MLB’s highest earner

Shohei Ohtani will be the highest paid player in Major League Baseball as he is expected to earn a record $65 million for the 2023 season.

The eye-catching figure includes sponsorships, according to Forbes Annual List.

The amount includes the $30 million, one-year contract extension the 28-year-old Japanese star signed with the Los Angeles Angels last October as part of an agreement to avoid arbitration.

New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer ranked second on the overall list, pocketing $59.3 million.

While Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge, who signed a nine-year, $360 million deal in December to stay in New York, had to settle for the third-highest earner at $44.5 million.

Shohei Ohtani (left) will be the highest paid player in the MLB, with Max Scherzer the second highest paid

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge will earn $44.5 million after signing a new nine-year contract

Another Mets player ranked in the top five with Justin Verlander set to make $43.3 this season.

Ohtani’s Angels teammate Mike Trout rounded out the top five with $39.5 million.

The two-way star, who is heading into the 2023 season after helping Japan win the World Baseball Classic crown, is reportedly expected to earn at least $35 million from endorsements, up from $6 million in 2021 and $20 million in 2022.

Ohtani signed a long-term footwear and apparel deal with New Balance in January.

The magazine’s endorsement revenue estimates showed a substantial gap between Ohtani and his peers.

Judge, the AL MVP, was next on the list, in line to earn $4.5 million in endorsements, while three-time AL MVP Trout was third with $4 million.

Ohtani, who faces the A’s in Oakland when the regular season begins Thursday, will be a free agent after the MLB season.

His deal with the Angels is the largest ever awarded to an arbitration-eligible player, surpassing the $27 million the Boston Red Sox gave Mookie Betts in January 2020, a month before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Angels.

Mets’ Justin Verlander (L) is fourth highest paid while Mike Trout (R) rounds out the top five

He was the runner-up in AL MVP voting after hitting 34 home runs and driving in 95 runs for the Angels last season while posting a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts with a 15-9 record.

Ohtani made only one start for the Angels before leaving for Japan, for whom he pitched 9 2-3 ​​innings with a 1.86 ERA in three WBC appearances. His last outing was last week’s ninth-inning appearance against the United States, where he fanned Trout with a full-count slider to start a celebration.

The party was short-lived, however, as Ohtani returned to his MLB team on Wednesday so he could begin preparing for the regular season.