That is correct on the deferred salaries. I read that it was actually Otani's idea. He only gets $2 million for several years as he already gets something like $50 million from other things. There is so much money floating around for these guys, it seems like the money to play is extra spending money or inheritance for the kids.
This deferral of salaries will come back to haunt some of these teams if they are not careful. Who knows what the market is going to be like in 15-20 years, but what do I know. I just know that my team, the Red Sox were in on Yamamoto and fans are all over the front office for not spending enough in a large market area.
What gets me about all of this spending is how our society berates some CEO of a company for raking in millions but doesn't blink an eye when a celebrity or someone playing a game gets paid enormous amounts of money. It is ruining sports for me, I couldn't be pulled from a TV if there was a good NFL, MLB or College FB team on, not anymore. I haven't watched the NBA since MJ departed and used to watch playoff Hockey but miss that now too.