Mitch Haniger, Alex Cobb among Giants who will reportedly earn more than Shohei Ohtani in 2024

The San Francisco Giants could have more than half of their roster next season make more than two-way phenom, and reported Dodgers signee, Shohei Ohtani in 2024.

The race for the present-day greatest player in baseball ended Saturday, when the Dodgers reportedly signed Ohtani for a whopping 10-year, $700 million contract. It wasn’t too surprising that the reigning American League MVP chose the star-studded franchise over other suitors, including the Giants. 

What was surprising were the details about his contract that came out on Monday. According to multiple reports, Ohtani will defer $680 million of his salary until after the end of his deal. What this means in practice is that the 29-year-old will make $2 million per year until 2034, or $20 million in total. He’ll get the rest of the money on an annual basis ($68 million per year), and interest-free, until 2043.

To put context behind Ohtani’s current salary, here is every player on the Giants roster that either will make more money than the Japanese star will next season or is projected to after arbitration (numbers and arbitration estimates via Spotrac): Lamonte Wade Jr. ($3.4 million after arbitration), Thairo Estrada ($4.6 million after arbitration), J.D. Davis ($6.9 million after arbitration), Austin Slater ($4 million), Luke Jackson ($6.5 million), Wilmer Flores ($6.5 million), Mike Yastrzemski ($7.9 million), Logan Webb ($8 million), Alex Cobb ($10 million), Taylor Rogers ($12 million), Anthony DeSclafani ($12 million), Ross Stripling ($15 million), Michael Conforto ($18 million) and Mitch Haniger ($19 million). 

That’s 15 players from a potential 26-man roster, as of Monday. Of course, the number of Giants making more than Ohtani in salary could go down as the offseason progresses, if San Francisco trades any of those players. It also could go up, depending on whether the Giants sign any free agents — like Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with whom the Giants reportedly met on Sunday.

It’s a fascinating piece of accounting that has left baseball fans and media members alike scrambling to try and explain what this all means for whom — listen closely enough and you can hear the sound of frantic typing as outlets prepare their Winners and Losers blogs. It’s also another dagger to the chest of Giants fans, as Ohtani reportedly offered this structure to all of his suitors, meaning San Francisco could have theoretically been the talk of the league with this mind-boggling deal.

That reality is stuck in the theoretical ether, but so is Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers technically. While the contract has been widely reported, Los Angeles has yet to officially announce the move and Ohtani still has yet to pass, let alone complete, his physical. As Giants fans will tell you, that checked box is far from a guarantee, meaning there’s a nonzero chance this whole saga could have some additional upcoming twists and turns.