No MLB player has ever banked $100 million in total earnings in one year, but that is expected to change in 2025. According to Sportico, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto are slated to surpass that number this year.
Ohtani and Soto have both signed gargantuan free agent contracts over the past couple years, but they will make their money very differently in 2025. Ohtani will rely mainly on endorsement deals, and Soto will bank his massive signing bonus from the Mets.
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in late 2023, but much of that money was deferred. The Dodgers’ slugger will only make $2 million in salary this year as he deferred much of his money, but he is expected to reel in roughly $100 million in endorsements and memorabilia from companies like New Balance and Fanatics/Topps.
Soto, on the other hand, will get the vast majority of his money from his contract thanks to his $75 million signing bonus. Throw in his salary and some endorsement deals, Soto is expected to make an estimated $129 million, according to Sportico.
That’s a historically large haul for each player, but they have more than earned it. In his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani hit .375 with 54 home runs and 130 RBI while also winning a World Series and the NL MVP.
Soto, in his only year with the New York Yankees, hit .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBI. He earned first-team All-MLB honors and a Silver Slugger award. Soto parlayed that into a $765 million contract with the Mets.
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