As MLB clubs continue to depend on salary deferrals to field talented rosters, commissioner Rob Manfred warned that deferrals "can become problematic."

In an interview with Chris O'Gorman for Questions for Cancer Research (h/t The Athletic's Evan Drellich), Manfred said deferrals become a bigger concern as the numbers increase.

"Deferrals at some point can become problematic," Manfred said. "Historically, we did have one franchise, Arizona, that got itself into financial difficulties as a result of excessive deferrals. We've strengthened our rules in terms of the funding of deferred compensation in order to avoid that kind of problem. But, you know, look, obviously the bigger the numbers get, the bigger the concern."

Manfred specifically mentioned the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had $254 million in deferred salaries in 2004 when owner Jerry Colangelo was forced out. The debt Colangelo was willing to go into led to ticket prices increasing and the Diamondbacks quickly plummeting to one of the worst teams in baseball in the years after their 2001 World Series.

The latest team to tack on massive amounts of money in deferred salaries was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who owe more than $1 billion in deferred payments to seven players between 2028-46.

The bulk of that belongs to Shohei Ohtani, who signed a 10-year, $700 million contract last offseason and will receive $680 million of it between 2034 and 2043.

Aside from Ohtani, Mookie Betts' 12-year, $365 million contract includes $115 million in deferrals between 2033-44; Freddie Freeman's six-year, $162 million includes $57 million deferred money between 2028-40; Will Smith's 10-year, $140 million deal has $50 million in deferred money to be paid out between 2034-43; and Teoscar Hernández's one-year, $23.5 million deal he signed before the season had $8.5 million in deferred money to be paid out between 2030-39.

But all the deferred money didn't stop the Dodgers from adding more this offseason. They signed starting pitcher Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract with $66 million deferred through 2046 and inked Tommy Edman to a five-year, $74 million contract with $25 million to be paid through 2044.

All of the Dodgers' future payments might not be much of an issue given how lucrative the franchise is, but Manfred still believes it could set a bad precedent for the league.