TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 6: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after his team defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on April 6, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles Dodgers have surged to one of the best records in baseball to start the season, shortly after acquiring additional superstar talent during the offseason.
Though fans might have been surprised that the Dodgers managed to lure All-Star closer Edwin Diaz away from the New York Mets and that they were willing to invest top-dollar in another outfielder by signing Kyle Tucker as well, the team’s relentless offseason strategy is nothing new. In recent winters, the team has embraced record luxury tax payments with no evident limits on its willingness to take on large new contracts.
But it all started with Shohei Ohtani, who agreed to a deferral-heavy $700 million deal with the Dodgers in 2023. Ohtani has easily outperformed that contract, pushing the team to a pair of World Series championships and bringing in international ad revenue that more than makes up for his annual salary.
“Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract is enormous, but according to sources, the Dodgers made back the entirety of the contract in Ohtani’s first season in tickets, marketing deals in Japan/global, merchandise,” sports journalist Joon Lee reported. “His impact on baseball’s growth cannot be understated.”
Boston Red Sox Legend David Ortiz Details Los Angeles Dodgers’ $100 Million Shohei Ohtani Move
The combination of his salary deferrals, success on the field and interest from advertisers might be why the Dodgers are so willing to continually invest in Ohtani’s development.
In a recent interview with Abriendo Sports, legendary Boston Red Sox slugger and Fox Sports commentator David Ortiz revealed that the team had recently invested another $100 million into their facilities at Ohtani’s request.
“In the Dodgers versus Yankees game at Dodger Stadium, Mark (Walter), the majority owner of the Dodgers, pulled Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and me aside and said, ‘Come on, I’m going to give you guys a tour of what we’ve done around the stadium,’” Ortiz recalled, per a translation of his Spanish-language interview shared on X, formerly Twitter. “As we walked, I asked, ‘Mark, what’s up with this construction here?’ He replied, ‘It’s for Ohtani. After the season, we sat down with him and asked what we could do to help him get even better. We said, ‘Shohei, is there anything you believe we should do?’ Ohtani told them, ‘If we had more batting cages, I think I could be a better hitter.’”
Ohtani typically takes his batting practice inside but will utilize the outdoor cages during the season if he feels he needs to make a significant adjustment or is mired in a notable slump. There is good reason to think that the Dodgers’ batting cages have helped Ohtani, but the price tag for the upgrade shared by Ortiz was significant.
“The Dodgers then invested over $100 million into the clubhouse,” Ortiz said. “They turned it into a Four Seasons.”
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Investment Raises Question For New York Yankees
And that willingness to invest raised a question for arguably the Dodgers’ biggest rivals, the New York Yankees. Ortiz added that, in the middle of the Dodgers tour, he pointed to his Fox Sports co-hosts Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, two former Yankees stars, with a pointed question for their former team.
“As we toured the new space, I looked over at Alex and Jeter and said, ‘And you guys are over here talking about the Yankees. The Yankees what?’” Ortiz added.
As the Dodgers embark on a quest for their third straight World Series title since adding Ohtani, it’s clear that the team won’t be curbing its high-spending ways anytime soon, whether that’s to add new players or help the ones the team already has to get better. And if other historic franchises like the Yankees want to keep up, it won’t be cheap.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com