For days, the fate of the season's MVP regarding the coming years was unknown. There were intense speculations of signings (from his departure to the Chicago Cubs, the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants). None of that happened and he will stay in the Angels, but on the other popular team. He left the Los Angeles Angels to move to the rival Dodgers, based on 700 million reasons, all economic obviously.

With this contract he becomes the highest paid player in baseball history, surpassing players with contracts that seemed unmatched, such as his former teammate, Mike Trout, who had a contract of 430 million for 12 years, or his new teammate, Mookie Betts, who earned 365 million but for 12 years. 

The contract of Ohtani, who was also MVP in 2021, doubles them if the value of the signing years (70 million per year) is taken into account.

He has the rare distinction of being an elite pitcher and hitter (many define him as a "double player", something that has not been seen for decades, at least in MLB). 

The history books tell us that it took 100 years for the legendary Ruth to become a New York Yankees legend when television did not yet exist.

He has just been unanimously voted MLB's best player despite his injuries and will be paid 100 times the minimum contract of the most important league in the world, or to put it another way, his individual payroll exceeds the entire payroll of Baltimore and Oakland this year.

The new mega millionaire of world sports:

He surpasses the greatest player in soccer history, Argentina's Lionel Messi earns 150 million in two and a half seasons in Miami, although he has percentages in royalties from jersey sales and associated advertising revenue, it seems to be far from the 700 million the Japanese will collect in 7 years.

He also surpasses the star of soccer consumed in the United States, American football. The Japanese will be paid more than Patrick Mahomes, one of the NFL's biggest stars and receives $450 million for a 10-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. The contract readjustments after being the MVP will not be enough, as he will earn 56.76 million in 2026, far from the 70 annual average of the Asian.

Another one he surpasses overall is LeBron James, the Lakers' veteran star, who agreed in August 2022 to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the Lakers, remaining tied through the 2024-25 season. 

The stats that led him to become the highest paid player in the world:

As a designated hitter, Ohtani led the American League in home runs with 44, on-base percentage (.412), slugging percentage (.654) and total bases (325).

He hit 26 doubles and eight triples with 20 stolen bases and 95 RBIs.

He batted over 300 for the first time in his six-year major league career.

In 23 starts as a pitcher, he was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings.

He had the lowest batting average (.184) among all American League pitchers with at least 130 innings.

It marked Ohtani's second consecutive season with at least 10 wins on the mound and 10 home runs at the plate.

The only other player to accomplish that feat was New York Yankees legend Ruth more than 100 years ago (1918).