Shohei Ohtani ‘is set to receive a record $65m this season’ – making him MLB’s highest earner

Shohei Ohtani will be Major League Baseball’s highest-paid player as he’s expected to land a record $65million for the 2023 season.

The eye-popping figure includes endorsements, according to Forbes’ annual list. 

The amount includes the one-year, $30m contract extension that the 28-year-old Japanese star signed with the Los Angeles Angels last October as part of an agreement to avoid arbitration.

New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was second on the overall list, pocketing $59.3million. 

While Yankees’ star slugger Aaron Judge, who signed a nine-year, $360m deal in December to remain in New York, had to settle for third-highest earner on $44.5m.

Shohei Ohtani (L) will be MLB’s highest-paid player, with Max Scherzer second-highest earner

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge will make $44.5million after signing new nine-year deal

Another Mets player made the top five with Justin Verlander set to make $44.3m this season.

Ohtani’s Angels teammate Mike Trout completed the top five with $39.5m. 

The two-way star, who is heading into the 2023 season fresh from helping Japan to the World Baseball Classic crown, is reportedly expected to make at least $35m from endorsements, up from $6m in 2021 and $20m in 2022.

Ohtani did ink a long-term footwear and apparel deal with New Balance back in January.

The magazine’s endorsement revenue estimates showed a substantial gap between Ohtani and his peers.

Judge, the American League’s Most Valuable Player, was next on the list, in line to make $4.5m in endorsements, while three-time AL MVP Trout was third with $4m.

Ohtani, who faces the Athletics in Oakland when the regular season opens on Thursday, will be a free agent after the MLB season.

His Angels deal is the largest ever given to an arbitration-eligible player, surpassing the $27m given to Mookie Betts by the Boston Red Sox in January 2020, a month before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Mets’ Justin Verlander (L) is the fourth-best paid, while Mike Trout (R) completes the top five

He was runner-up in the American League MVP voting after hitting 34 homers and driving in 95 runs for the Angels last season, plus posting a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts with a 15-9 record. 

Ohtani only made one start for the Angels before leaving for Japan, for whom he pitched 9 2-3 innings with a 1.86 ERA in three WBC appearances. 

The last outing was last week’s ninth-inning appearance against the United States, where he fanned Trout on a full-count slider to set off a celebration. 

The party was short-lived though, as Ohtani returned to his MLB team on Wednesday so he could begin preparing for the regular season.