Story byBilly HeyenSat, January 10, 2026 at 2:57 AM UTC·1 min readRed Sox are paying Manny Ramirez same salary in 2026 as Dodgers are paying Shohei Ohtani originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Sometimes, contracts are funny. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLike how the contracts of Manny Ramirez with the Boston Red Sox and Shohei Ohtani with the Los Angeles Dodgers somehow align in 2026. The Dodgers will pay Ohtani $2 million for the 2026 season in salary, because most of his mega contract is deferred well into the future. The Red Sox will pay Ramirez $2 million in 2026. It's the last year of deferred money on his deal that he signed before the 2001 season. This will be a bit what it feels like for Ohtani in a couple decades when he's still pulling in the deferred money. Not a ton of MLB deals go the deferral route, but some of the biggest money contracts incorporate it as a way to spread out financial obligations a bit. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRamirez was worth it for Boston.