When the Los Angeles Dodgers locked in Shohei Ohtani with a whopping $700 million deal, many were quick to notice one thing: 97% of that amount was deferred! Then came the backlash, where many fans thought it was unfair. And now, we are seeing something similar, as the LA Dodgers have pulled the same trick out of the bag. The Dodgers have signed a brand new five-year, $182 million contract with Blake Snell.

Not many teams have used the art of deferring payments quite like the Los Angeles Dodgers—they have dished out nearly $1 billion, or rather $964 million, of deferred contracts to be precise. That includes the contracts of Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell, along with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. And here’s the deal—their payments won’t start until 2028 when the Freeman deal wraps up. Not many fans approve of it, but Ben Verlander in his podcast reasoned why it’s no use hating on the Dodgers.

Ben Verlander fires back at the Los Angeles Dodgers critics

The art of deferring used by the Los Angeles Dodgers has angered the other teams’ fans; many feel the team is bullying the system. With this new big signing, fans of other teams are yelling about the lack of parity in baseball and demanding a salary cap. Not to mention they are mentioning Dodgers would be “too good.” But Ben Verlander has a short answer—slow down! According to him, people are acting as if, with that signing, the Dodgers had already won 2025 and 26’. Given that MLB has the longest streak of history without a repeat winner, it shows that fans should “pump the brakes.” 

Ben Verlander even gave the real reason he thinks fans are mad—it’s the small-market teams refusing to spend. “You’re not mad at the Dodgers; you’re mad at the cheap franchise that you root for,” said Ben Verlander bluntly on the Flippin Bats podcast. Instead, he asked them to be mad at the owners who pocket TV revenue and luxury tax payouts from bigger teams and then just sit back.

Verlander gave the example of the Royals and how things turned out when they decided to spend money—well, truly deferred contracts, although now heavily connected to the Los Angeles Dodgers, aren’t really a new concept. Bobby Bonilla set the trend decades ago, as Verlander mentioned.

How the Dodgers are using deferred contracts to build a winning roster

Deferred money is not a new concept, and it is used mostly by teams to enhance the flexibility to enhance their rosters. Take Shohei Ohtani’s deal with the LA Dodgers last year, for example. It included them paying the Japanese star just $2 million annually. While the contract CBT value is $46 million, had they not deferred the payments, the CBT hit would have been $70 million, which is $24 million higher.

So, the Dodgers saved plenty of money, which allowed them to sign another star, Teoscar Hernandez, with a one-year, $23.5 million deal. And well, he played a crucial part in their World Series win —it all worked in the team’s favor. Plus, if doing this deferred thing enables a team to become a winning one, why not try it? In turn, even other strong players would get attracted to sign with them—just like Blake Snell did.

It’s worth noting that the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t the only ones using the strategy. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets are also deferring vast sums—$75 million from the Rafael Devers deal and $50 million from Francisco Lindor’s deal.

What do you think about deferred contracts? Let us know below.