Full Dodgers-Blake Snell contract details reveal 2 new wrinkles

At this point, it would be shocking if the Dodgers' next big contract didn't include deferred money. Their recent run didn't start with Shohei Ohtani — both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman will be paid millions from 2028 through 2044 — but the sheer magnitude of Ohtani's deferrals ($680 million) certainly drew more attention to LA's money strategy.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's deal didn't include deferrals, but Will Smith's 10-year extension, Teoscar Hernández's one-year deal, and now Blake Snell's five-year contract do. If opposing fans weren't mad before, they definitely are now.

Snell got $52 million upon signing and $182 million through 2029. Original reporting of the deal did say that deferrals were included, but it was unclear until now exactly how much money the Dodgers would be putting off paying.

Jon Heyman had the full details on Tuesday. Instead of a straight-up $26 million a year, Snell will receive $12.8 million per contract year, with $13.2 million deferred through a future, as-yet unknown five-year period. That's $66 million total deferred, which will save the Dodgers $6 million a year in luxury tax.

Heyman also broke the news that the deal also includes a club option for 2030 worth $10 million, only if he's still with the Dodgers and if he spends 90+ days in a row on the IL "due to specific injury." The deal also doesn't include a no-trade clause, but Snell will receive $5 million from the Dodgers if they do trade him.

More Blake Snell-Dodgers contract details revealed, including full deferral info

Snell's signing technically brings the Dodgers rotation up to six, and Brandon Gomes has said the team is inclined to try to go to a six-man rotation again next season, but there are caveats. Dustin May's level of readiness by Opening Day or even spring training is still totally up in the air, and Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw may not be ready by the Tokyo Series, either. It wouldn't be surprising if the Dodgers go out and get one more starting pitcher.

Snell's contract, as with all of the ones that include deferred money, enables that to happen. The Dodgers have reportedly been in touch with all of the Big Three pitchers on the market — Snell, Corbin Burnes, and Max Fried — and although it does seem like a stretch of the imagination that they'd get either Burnes or Fried after this, you really never know with these guys.

Non-Dodgers fans were already up in arms about the fact that deferred money was included in Snell's deal, and the full details will surely compound that ire. But the Dodgers are apparently still in the running for Juan Soto and may still be talking to Burnes and Fried, so those fans should probably get used to it.