Putting to rest weeks of increasingly feverish speculation, Shohei Ohtani announced Saturday that he has signed a historic deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, one that ranks among the largest in the history of professional sports.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others, Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers is for 10 years, $700 million, obliterating the previous MLB record of $426.5 million set by Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout. Passan also reported the contract has significant deferrals, which will reduce his luxury tax hit and free up more money for the Dodgers to build a contender around him.

Ohtani broke the news himself on his Instagram, thanking fans and everyone in the baseball world for their patience while expressing gratitude to the Los Angeles Angels for their six-year partnership and to the Dodgers for allowing him the opportunity to finish his career in blue.

“To all Dodgers fans, I pledge to always do what’s best for the team and always continue to give it my all to be the best version of myself,” Ohtani said. “Until the last day of my playing career, I want to continue to strive forward not only for the Dodgers but for the baseball world.”

His agent Nez Balelo released a statement on his behalf shortly afterwards as well.

“Shohei is thrilled to be a part of the Dodgers organization. He is excited to begin this partnership and he structured his contract to reflect a true commitment from both sides to long-term success,” Balelo said. “Shohei and I want to thank all the organizations that reached out to us for their interest and respect, especially the wonderful people we got to know even better as this process unfolded. We know fans, media and the entire industry had a high degree of interest in this process, and we want to express our appreciation for their passion and their consideration as it played out.”

Even knowing Ohtani’s deal would likely rewrite the record books, the scale of his new deal is staggering. Ohtani’s $700 million guaranteed eclipses the $530.8 million LeBron James is estimated to have earned over his entire playing career, even taking next year’s earnings into account. It also exceeds the $660 million John Henry’s ownership group originally paid for the Red Sox in 2002.

Baseball hasn’t seen such a market reset since Alex Rodriguez’s then-record $252 million deal in 2000, but Ohtani is truly a one-of-a-kind talent.

Not since Babe Ruth has an individual player successfully hit and pitched at the big league level, and even Ruth rarely did both at the same time. This past season Ohtani captured his second MVP award, leading all of baseball with a 1.066 OPS along with 44 home runs, a .304 average, 95 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He also went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts over 132 innings, though he will not pitch in the majors next season after undergoing elbow surgery earlier this fall.

Even granting Ohtani’s talents, this commitment brings considerable risk for the Dodgers given that Ohtani will be coming back from a second elbow surgery in less than five years. For Los Angeles to get its money’s worth they will need Ohtani back on the mound in 2025 and beyond.

Regardless of what happens down the road, Los Angeles has firmly established itself as the center of the baseball world. With Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and now Shohei Ohtani on board, the Dodgers should enter 2024 as heavy World Series favorites, allowing the two-way superstar his first opportunity to shine on the postseason stage after six years of disappointment across town in Anaheim.