Freddie Freeman’s Dodgers contract includes $57 million in deferred payments
PHOENIX — Freddie Freeman’s new six-year, $162-million contract with the Dodgers includes $57 million of deferred money, according to details of the contract filed by the Major League Baseball Players Assn.
The deferred payments are without interest, and will be paid out from 2028 until 2040, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. They will change the contract’s effective worth, giving it a present-day value of roughly $148,195,494, according to calculations by the union.
Freeman will have $7 million deferred from his $27-million base salary for each of the first three years, then $12 million deferred in each of the final three years of the deal, which runs through 2027. If Freeman is traded, his new team would not be able to defer any of the money he is still owed.
The deferrals do not affect the average annual value of the contract for competitive-balance tax purposes; it remains the full $27 million each year, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
An inside look at how the Dodgers signed All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, including an impromptu call from Mookie Betts’ wedding.
Here is how Freeman’s contract breaks down year over year:
2022: $27 million ($7 million is deferred without interest)
2023: $27 million ($7 million is deferred without interest)
2024: $27 million ($7 million is deferred without interest)
2025: $27 million ($12 million is deferred without interest)
2026: $27 million ($12 million is deferred without interest)
2027: $27 million ($12 million is deferred without interest)
Freddie Freeman says he felt hurt by how the Braves didn’t make a big effort to keep him. Kenley Jansen could probably say the same about the Dodgers.
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